


Chalk

by shipsandglitter



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Camping, Cyrus likes photography, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, He's a soft gay, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Muffy if you squint pretty hard, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slight Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn Ish, TJ is an artist bc why not, background ambi, he's also a disaster gay, supportive friends (eventually anyway)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-07 15:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17368334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsandglitter/pseuds/shipsandglitter
Summary: “He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, very convinced that he was just seeing things, but when he opened them again the scene hadn’t changed.He was still in his bedroom, looking at his neighbour’s house, and 𝘛𝘑 𝘒𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 was still sitting cross-legged on the driveway, holding chalk in his hand and admiring the pictures he had very clearly just drawn.”~Or the one where Cyrus discovers that there’s more to TJ Kippen than he previously thought. An unlikely friendship forms between them, only for pesky feelings to become involved.





	1. A new neighbour

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first chaptered fic! It's not going to be overly long, but I'm aiming for about 24k words.
> 
> It's loosely based off a oneshot that I wrote when I was 13 (hopefully this one will be slightly better considering 3 years have passed since then.)
> 
> When this is finished I'm hopefully planning on writing another ambi oneshot!

There were 3 weeks until summer vacation, and that fact was pretty much the only thing motivating Cyrus to sit down at his desk after school and work on his assignments. 

Everything went smoothly for about an hour - he had turned his phone off to avoid distraction, and put out a very bold sign on his door saying ‘STUDYING.’ That was the point at which he began sneaking curious glances out of his window at the house next door. There had been a moving truck there yesterday, and he had yet to see who his new neighbours were.

Cyrus managed to finish his assignment about an hour later, despite his slight preoccupation, and he rushed downstairs when his dad called for dinner.

His eyes wandered to the window again when he came back up to his room later on, and when they landed on a boy his heart skipped a beat. Cyrus hesitantly approached the window to get a closer look, and his mouth dropped open in shock.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, very convinced that he was just seeing things, but when he opened them again the scene hadn’t changed. He was still in his bedroom, looking at his neighbour’s house, and  _TJ Kippen_  was still sitting cross-legged on the driveway, holding chalk in his hand and admiring the pictures he had very  _clearly_ just drawn. 

Cyrus let out a small, disbelieving laugh as he settled down on his desk-chair, his eyes wide as he peered out of his window.

There was no denying that it was TJ. Although he was missing his usual navy blue snap-back, his dirty blonde hair was gelled up as normal and he was wearing one of his (slightly obnoxious) red basketball hoodies.

Cyrus’ eyes eventually wandered from the boy to all the chalk drawings that surrounded him on the driveway. It was explosion of rainbows and words and animals - essentially the very  _opposite_ things he associated with TJ Kippen. The basketball captain, the guy with about a  _million_ obnoxious friends and most importantly - the guy who had a history with his best friend that made Cyrus enemies with him by default.

Although they had all been in middle school when TJ got Buffy temporarily suspended from the basketball team for doing his homework, he had never apologised to her. So she had never forgiven him, and they had continued disliking each other for the sake of disliking each other. 

Cyrus tried to push this to the back of mind as he watched the boy work, his brows furrowed in concentration as he added details and patterns to all of his drawings. It felt wrong to admit that they were all good, but they were, and Cyrus found himself wondering if TJ did this kind of thing often.

Eventually, he was able to pry his eyes away from the sight by closing the curtains, and he resolved to keep them shut as much as he possibly could. All that separated their driveways was a flimsy white fence, and it’d be far too tempting to look at all of the rainbow chalk drawings.

 

~

 

Cyrus had honestly never cared much about TJ Kippen. He didn’t get involved in Buffy’s rants about him, and he most certainly never tried to speak to the boy. Or any of his friends for that matter. He was perfectly content with remaining somewhat neutral towards TJ, which resulted in simply not being acknowledged by him.

The following day though, he could barely keep his eyes off the athlete as he roamed the corridors with his friends. He blamed the universe entirely for deciding that TJ Kippen should move in next to  _him_ of all people. He wouldn’t even  _be_ staring at the boy right if he hadn’t of seen all of his rainbow chalk drawings.

“Hello? Earth to Cyrus?”

He snapped out of another TJ-induced daze and turned to Buffy, an apologetic smile on his lips. “Sorry! I’m listening.”

“Of course you are,” she deadpanned. “I have a meeting with Mr. Coleman before class. Think you can make it to maths okay?”

Cyrus laughed slightly at that, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be fine, Buffy. I probably won’t die on the way to class.”

“ _Probably?"_

The boy just shrugged. “Hey, you never know! Crowded corridors bring out the worst in people.” 

“Whatever. I’ll see you there, okay?” Buffy said, an exasperated smile on her lips. 

She gave him one last playful shove before walking away. Cyrus looked after her with a small smile, before directed his focus back to TJ and his friends. They were gone now - obviously.

He reached his class relatively unscathed, although he did have very close encounter with a boy who definitely would’ve yelled had Cyrus accidentally knocked him. 

His eyes widened when he noticed TJ and his friends waiting for a class opposite his.

 

 _Since when did TJ have a class there? Was he really just_ that  _unobservant?_

 

He quickly brushed off the thought - the boy probably just had a room change, that was all.

He fell back into observing the group as subtly as he could while he waited. After a minute or two, he couldn’t help but notice that something seemed odd about TJ. Maybe it was nothing, but there seemed to be something fake about the way he interacted with his friends.

 

 _He was probably just over analysing - as one does when they’ve been raised by four shrinks for their entire life_.

 

There was a moment even Cyrus couldn’t deny though where TJ stopped laughing the moment his friends turned away from him, and the downright exhausted expression on his face almost made Cyrus  _prefer_ the fake smiles.

He pushed away all of these thoughts (this was TJ Kippen after all - there was no _way_ he should be caring this much) and opted to use his phone while he waited for class to start instead.

 

~

 

Cyrus was feeling particularly brave at lunch, so he decided to ask Buffy about her feelings towards TJ. 

She hadn’t been mentioning him recently, and Cyrus almost wanted her to go on another tangent about him so he could remind himself of why he shouldn’t be so interested in this boy.

Even  _Jonah_ , who (despite being an incredibly nice person) could be very oblivious at times, shot Cyrus a warning look. Marty rolled his eyes fondly, while Andi just gave him a death glare.

“Well first of all - did you guys  _see_ that obnoxious orange Nike shirt he was wearing yesterday? If you’re going to be popular, you should at least have a sense of style-“

To avoid another agonising rant about Nike shirts, Cyrus gently tried to redirect the topic.

“What would happen if he apologised for what happened in middle school? That’s the entire reason you don’t like him, right?”

Buffy laughed at that, and wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “You’re very sweet Cyrus, but that’s never going to happen. He’s never going to apologise, and I’ve just accepted that. Besides - he’s  _so_ easy to dislike. Did you see his hair today? He must’ve used the whole tub of gel, and he still probably left the house thinking ‘Yeah. This looks good.’”

“His sister is okay,” Andi interjected, a light blush rising on her cheeks.

Buffy and Cyrus exchanged a knowing look, while Marty just snorted.

“Who is that again? I don’t think you’ve mentioned her  _once_ , Andi. Please - enlighten us.”

“Shut up,” the girl grumbled. “She’s sweet and you all know it.” 

“Yeah,” Buffy sighed. “If only  _TJ_ had inherited some of those nice genes.”

The topic shifted from there, giving Cyrus the opportunity to begin sneaking glances at TJ from across the cafeteria.

He honestly did try to restrain himself, but ever since he began noticing how uncomfortable the boy constantly seemed around his friends, he couldn’t help it.

At one point, the group walked past their table, and Cyrus was able to catch a fleeting snippet of their conversation. Most importantly - he caught TJ’s reaction to it.

“He was the biggest fucking fag I’ve ever seen!” 

This managed to pull laughter from everyone  _but_ TJ, who glanced down at the ground with a small frown.

 

 _Had_ _he_ _always_ _done_ _that_ \- _or_ _was_ _this_ _a_ _new_ _thing?_

 

Jonah seemed to hear what they said too, because he gave the boy a sympathetic smile. “Don’t listen to them, Cy-guy. They’re idiots.”

Cyrus sighed heavily and nodded, a faint smile on his lips. “Thanks, Jonah.” 

 

~

 

There were a lot of things Cyrus had come to expect from TJ, and being sad was  _not_  one of them. Or - it wasn’t supposed to be, anyway. 

Cyrus knew there was a possibility that he was just overthinking, he couldn’t stop noticing all of these moments where TJ looked miserable around his friends.

He still blamed those damn chalk drawings.

Another thing he didn’t expect TJ to ever do was acknowledge his existence, which is why he jumped so violently when the boy tapped his shoulder.

“Hey.” 

Cyrus quickly whirled around. It took him a solid few seconds to stop gaping at TJ and collect himself.

“Uh - hey!” he squeaked. “What’s up?”

“You’re kind of in front my locker.”

“Oh! Right, sorry. I’ll um - move. Yeah, I’ll move.”

As he stepped aside, Cyrus swore he saw a genuine smile ghost over TJ’s lips, but it fell almost immediately when a friend came up behind him and clapped him on the back.

“Ready to go, Kippen?”

“Yeah. Just give me a sec.”

Cyrus’ class was let in then - much to his relief - so he rushed inside without looking back and sat down. 

He tried to focus on essay writing that lesson rather than a certain basketball-playing boy, and he was  _almost_ successful - apart from the occasional wandering thought. He wouldn’t count that, though.

 

~

 

Three days had passed when Cyrus saw TJ out on his driveway again, touching up a few old drawings and creating new ones. These ones in particular were significantly more rainbow-themed than the last (if that was even possible.) 

He managed to keep his glances to a minimum while he finished his homework, and only when he heard commotion from outside did he fully look up. 

His stomach dropped.

TJ was gone, but his gang of friends were all there, clearly sniggering about the chalk drawings. One of them - Isaac if Cyrus remembered correctly - kicked the box that had been sitting there, sending chalk flying everywhere. 

Cyrus’ stomach dropped even further when TJ stepped outside, his eyes immediately landing on the broken chalk pieces that were scattered across the ground. 

Every thought he had about closing the bedroom curtains slipped from his mind then.

Isaac laughingly asked TJ something, to which the boy responded with a half-hearted smile. He told the group something, which seemed to make them all erupt into laughter. 

Isaac and TJ exchanged a few more words, then Isaac walked around the back of his house and out of sight.

 

_That really wasn’t a good sign._

 

Despite his best-friend’s long-time dislike for the boy, Cyrus found himself feeling bad for TJ as they all began jumping on the chalk and crushing it. The athlete just stood to the side, wincing slightly.

Cyrus thought that had to be worst of it, but when Isaac returned with a hose in his hands he knew that it wasn’t. All he could do was watch from his window with a sad as the boy hosed down TJ’s entire driveway, washing away all of the boy’s drawings.

TJ was obviously trying hard to conceal his hurt, but as someone who was almost constantly being psycho-analysed by his parents, Cyrus could see right through the facade.

Eventually, Isaac turned the hose off and gestured towards the footpath, where a group of bikes were all parked. TJ nodded reluctantly and grabbed his own bike from the front porch, before joining the rest of them and riding away.

Wet ground and mushy chalk was all that was left from the ordeal, and Cyrus had never had quite the urge to yell at a group of boys as he did at that moment. 

He sat there on his desk chair for a moment longer, before reaching for his phone and frantically face-timing Andi and Buffy. They both picked up almost immediately.

“Guys!” 

Buffy gave him a confused smile. “What’s up?”

“Well...I told you that TJ moved in next door to me, right?”

“He  _what?"_

“So...no, I’m guessing?”

Andi looked overjoyed at this news. “That means Amber lives next to you! Say Cyrus, would I be able to-“

“Now is  _not_ the time for pining, Andi!” Buffy interrupted. “We have a problem on our hands.”

Cyrus sighed heavily at that. “Buffy-“

“He might try to be friends with you just to spite me!”

“I’m sure he won’t-“

“Do you know how terrifying that would be, Cyrus? One day you’re normal, and then the next you’re using a bucket of gel every day and wearing orange Nike shirts-“

“Buffy,” he interrupted, “I would literally  _never_.”

“Yeah...I know,” she sighed. “I just don’t want him anywhere near you. You’re too nice.” 

“I’ll be  _fine,”_ he assured her.

Silence fell for a moment, and Cyrus could feel himself getting nervous all of a sudden. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. 

“...What do you guys think about his friends?”

Buffy quirked a disbelieving eyebrow. “You mean the idiots that he hangs out with?”

“Yeah.”

Andi seemed slightly hesitant to respond. “I think they’re all jerks,” she began, “but...TJ doesn’t really look all too happy around them. I’m not sure if he’s  _actually_ friends with him.”

Cyrus’ eyes widened at that, while Buffy just scoffed.

“That’s ridiculous. He’s just as bad as them.”

“I never said he wasn’t!” Andi defended. “I just think he seems kind of sad around them.”

 

_So he wasn’t the only one who noticed it?_

 

“Are we really holding a pity-fest for  _TJ Kippen_  right now?” Buffy demanded.

As if on cue, TJ arrived back at his driveway then, propping his bike against the fence and hurrying over to his chalk remains. He clearly seemed to realise that none of it was salvageable, because his expression fell. He took a small step back and sat down on his porch, seeming deflated. 

“Hello? Cyrus?” 

He directed his gaze back towards his phone screen and smiled apologetically. “I’m really sorry guys, I have to go!”

Andi looked conflicted for a moment, but she smiled hesitantly and nodded. “Okay - bye!”

“We’ll see you tomorrow!” Buffy added.

He hung up quickly after that, and glanced out of his window again. 

TJ was still sitting there, except now he had his knees brought up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Cyrus bit his lip.

He had every urge to go down there and provide some sort of comfort, but would it really be moral to comfort your best friend’s mortal enemy? Or rather - the boy who got your best friend suspended from the middle school basketball team. 

Cyrus hated seeing people sad though, and TJ looked downright  _miserable_ at that moment.

He went back and forth in his head for a few more minutes, before sighing heavily and standing up from his chair.

_He’d talk to the boy just this once, and then he’d never talk to him again. Buffy would never have to know, and he wouldn’t have to deal with a sad-looking TJ Kippen the entire night._

He was happy with that plan, so he rushed downstairs and pulled on a pair of sneakers.

“I’ll be back soon!” he called, before stepping out into the warm evening air.

He walked over to TJ’s driveway, feeling more and more apprehensive with every step he took. His stomach was filled with butterflies as he peered around the corner, and he suddenly found himself regretted ever leaving his bedroom.

 

_Was this even worth the trouble he could get from Buffy if she ever found out?_

 

He sighed heavily and turned to walk away again, but quickly froze in his tracks when he heard an amused voice call out from behind him. 

“Hey there!” 

He slowly turned back around, feeling his face heat up when his eyes met TJ’s. The boy was still sitting on his porch, but Cyrus was very relieved to find that the he no longer looked like a sad puppy.

“Hey,” he mumbled, hesitantly approaching the other boy.

“Did you want something? Or were you just...casually lurking?”

Cyrus could feel himself blushing even harder at that; much to his dismay. He nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

“I um...just wanted to say I’m sorry. That your friends ruined your chalk drawings.”

TJ’s amused smile slipped at that. “Oh,” he murmured. “That’s nice, but...it’s fine. It was my fault anyway - I told them that my sister and her friends drew it all.”

“Why’d you tell them that?”

The athlete just shrugged, and Cyrus knew he probably shouldn’t push it.

“Well...they were nice anyway. I hope you can re-draw them.”

He turned to walk away for real then, but he felt a gentle hand wrap around his arm.

“Wait - uh - maybe you could help me draw some new ones?”

Cyrus was gobsmacked at that. He whirled around again, giving the boy a bewildered look. TJ immediately let go of his arm with an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry...that was a dumb thing to ask. You obviously don’t have to-“

“I’d love to.”

He wasn’t exactly sure where the words had come from, but they seemed right - the innocent hope on TJ’s face was far too much to bear.

“You do? Um - great! There’s a spot over there that Isaac didn’t get. I’ll just go get us some more chalk.”

The athlete rushed inside, and it was only a matter of seconds before he was rushing back out again.

“I keep them by the front door,” he explained in answer to Cyrus’ silent question. The boy chuckled and nodded.

They settled down on a dry patch of concrete towards the end of the driveway, and TJ took him through all of the colours he had.

“I have about 5 shades of every colour,” he told him, gently tipping them from the box and laying them all out.

“Whoa,” Cyrus breathed, carefully picking up a light blue chalk, “these look expensive.”

TJ laughed then, and for a split second the shorter boy thought he looked almost  _fond_. “Yeah. There’s a lot of cheap chalk out there, but this set is good.”

Cyrus nodded. He placed the chalk back down after a few moments, giving the boy an embarrassed smile. “I just remembered I’m the literal worst at drawing. Like ever.” 

“You don’t have to be perfect,” TJ assured him. “It’s more about fun than anything else.”

“...So you won’t judge me?”

“I won’t,” the athlete confirmed, picking up the blue chalk and placing it back in Cyrus’ hands. “I promise.”

He bit his lip and nodded again. The smile on TJ’s lips seemed kind enough, so he hesitantly leant over to draw on the concrete. It was smooth and surprisingly easy to draw on, which was probably the only reason his circle turned out relatively okay.

“A circle!” he announced.

TJ smiled at that, and picked up a pink chalk. “That’s great! Now how about we add some of these-“

He leant down and began drawing around the circle, laughing at the excited smile on Cyrus’ lips as he leaned back. “Petals!” 

The athlete handed him a yellow chalk, and Cyrus didn’t hesitant this time to lean over and add to the picture. He added larger petals, rounding them so that they contrasted against TJ’s sharper petals.

“Nice one. Now how about some...purple?”

“Definitely.”

They continued on like this, with Cyrus beginning drawings and TJ adding on to them. It took a few minutes, but the shorter boy eventually found himself relaxing slightly. There were a few brief moments where he remembered that he was currently drawing with  _TJ Kippen_ , but he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind.

The athlete was surprisingly nice company - which was something he’d never be able to say aloud.

“So, what brings you to this neighbourhood?” Cyrus asked, accepting the emerald green chalk that TJ offered.

“Well...the rent is cheaper here. My dad lost his job again recently, so we’re trying to cut down where we can.”

“Oh. That sucks, I’m sorry.”

TJ waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine.”

Cyrus continued drawing for a few moments, before looking back up at the boy. “Those chalks that your friends ruined...did they cost much?”

TJ waved him off again, but his expression seemed more pained this time. “It was my money, anyway.”

“That’s still awful though.”

“...I guess.”

The athlete was beginning to seem reluctant, so Cyrus quickly tried to steer the conversation away from uncomfortable territory.

“So...you like drawing?”

TJ laughed at that. “Yeah. I do.“ 

He paused for a moment to scan over their drawings, before adding “Do you think we should add more raindrops to this one?”

“Totally.” 

Cyrus picked up some pink chalk and set to work. “Do you prefer using chalk to draw?”

TJ thought about it for a moment. “Well...I like it, but I prefer digital drawing.”  

Cyrus nodded, and a brief silence fell over them as they added to all of their drawings.

Eventually, their corner of the driveway was filled with colourful sketches and patterns. TJ admired it for a moment, before turning to the boy with a bright smile. “We did it!” 

“We did,” Cyrus confirmed with a grin.

TJ jogged back inside then to put the chalk away, and they both ended up lingering around his front garden. 

“So you’re that locker guy from today, right?”

The shorter boy laughed slightly. “Yeah - I am. But you can call me Cyrus.”

“That  _does_ sound a bit better.” he said, smiling, “I’m TJ.”

Cyrus resisted the urge to say ‘I know’, and instead settled for “Nice to meet you.”

The conversation after that was comfortable. That is - it was comfortable until TJ casually inquired about his interests.

He wasn’t even entirely sure why he was so hung up over it; he had asked the boy a similar question about his drawing after all - but Cyrus couldn’t help but remember his initial plan.

Learning about one another definitely didn’t seem like a one-interaction-only thing.

 But did he  _want_  that?

Buffy certainly wouldn’t want that, which had to be the most important thing here. Right _?_  

He slowly looked back up at the boy, who was looking back at him with a soft smile that should  _definitely_ be illegal in Cyrus’ opinion.

“Well...I like photography. And film-making. And reptiles.” 

“Reptiles, huh?”

“Yeah. And dinosaurs.” 

TJ’s smile took a playful edge. “That’s awesome. Maybe you could tell me about them?” 

“Tell you about  _dinosaurs_?”

“Yeah - only if you want of course.”

Cyrus hesitated again for a moment, before sitting down on the ground with a wide smile and patting the space in front of him. 

“Sure - but you’ll probably wanna sit down.”

The sun had well and truly set by now, but TJ sat down in front of the other boy without a second thought.


	2. Acquaintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus is conflicted. Andi has some news about Amber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll hopefully be updating every 2 days!
> 
> Follow my tumblr if you want: heart-eyes-kippen

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t captain of the boys’ basketball team! Tell me - how did last week’s game go?”

Cyrus really wished he could’ve chosen that moment to disappear. Unfortunately, though - he couldn’t, so he was forced to stand timidly next to Buffy as she addressed TJ.

She usually wouldn’t have initiated something like this, but the boys’ basketball team had lost their first game in an undefeated season and Cyrus supposed that she probably couldn’t help herself. She had also been insisting recently that TJ was ignoring her on purpose to wind her up, so it provided her with a perfect opportunity to re-spark the feud between them.

“I’m not interested, Driscoll.”

Well that was a shock. So much so that even  _Buffy_ lost the smug look on her face for a few moments.

The boy began to walk away then, but Isaac roughly tugged him back. “Bro - what are you  _doing_?” he hissed.

TJ just pulled his arm out of Isaac’s grip, ignoring him completely in favour of  turning his gaze towards Cyrus. The ghost of a smile flickered across his lips, and the shorter boy gave him a very tiny nod. So tiny in fact, that he wondered if TJ had even caught it.

He tried not to think about the fact that less than 24 hours ago he had been  _drawing_ with this guy.

“I’m not in the mood to argue,” he said flatly, shifting his gaze towards Buffy. “The only thing I  _will_ say though is that your team hasn’t exactly had an undefeated season, have they?”

Cyrus’ eyes widened at that.

“Neither have  _yours!"_  she countered. “Now that you’ve lost, you can’t exactly call your season undefeated. Besides - two losses isn’t even that significant!”

An amused smile came to TJ’s lips, and he raised his arms in surrender. “You make a fair point, Driscoll.”

Cyrus couldn’t help but think that he was trying to make his jabs almost  _playful_.

_Was he just seeing what he wanted to see right now, or was TJ attempting to make banter rather than argue?_

“Look - this has been fun and all, but I should head off. I’ll see you around, yeah?”

With that, he turned on his heel and walked away in the opposite direction, leaving his friends in shocked silence.

“Yeah - well - get some better shirts while you’re at it!” Buffy called after him, her voice slightly uncertain.

Cyrus couldn't help but laugh as they headed to class, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I love you, but that wasn’t your wittiest remark.”

“Shut up.” she responded playfully.

 

~

 

There were a lot of things that Cyrus found unfair in the world, and TJ Kippen’s ability to give heart-melting smiles was rapidly becoming one of them.

Although he tried to keep his glances to a minimum at school over the next few days, he somehow managed to constantly catch the boy’s eye in corridors, or outside of classes, or from across the cafeteria.

It had been so much easier before; TJ barely spared him a glance, and he most certainly didn’t  _smile_ at Cyrus whenever they caught each other’s eye. Now the opposite was true, and without seeming dramatic, it was kind of ruining his life.

TJ was able to go from loud and arrogant to soft and hesitant within the span of two seconds, and Cyrus was honestly getting whiplash from trying to keep up with it. 

“Cyrus, have you been day-dreaming constantly for the past few days? I feel like I’m always trying to get your attention.” 

He pried his eyes away from TJ and turned back to Andi, giving her a guilty smile.

“I’m so sorry, I’ve just been...distracted. What were you saying?”

“I was  _saying_ that Amber is my project partner for art!”

“She’s your  _what?_ ” Marty exclaimed, turning to the pair.

“I know! And the project lasts an entire term!”

“Andi, you  _have_ to ask her out,” Cyrus begged.

“Yeah,” Marty agreed. “If I have to deal with your pining all term, I might explode.”

“You guys _know_ I can’t do that,” she complained.

Marty just scoffed, tearing off a piece of his muffin and handing it to Cyrus. “Why not? You’re pan, she’s gay, you’re both single and you both like art! Boom. Perfect couple.”

Cyrus accepted the muffin piece with a thankful smile, nodding eagerly in agreement. 

The girl rolled her eyes at the pair as Buffy and Jonah both joined them, sitting down in their usual spots. 

Buffy looked downright furious, and Cyrus couldn’t help but send Andi a worried glance.

“You guys won’t  _believe_ what TJ just did.” 

Cyrus paled slightly at that. “...Why? What did he do?”

“He  _smiled_ at me!”

The concern on everyone’s face melted away at that. Cyrus let out a small sigh of relief.

“Buffy,” Marty began gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Why is that bad?”

“Because he was obviously mocking me!”

“How do you know that?”

Some of the girl’s outrage gave way to uncertainty. “I don’t know...why  _else_ would he smile at me?”

“Buffy, I hate to break it to you, but smiling is generally considered a pretty nice gesture.” Andi said.

“Yeah,” Jonah agreed. “Maybe he was actually just smiling at you.”

She sighed in defeat and nodded. “ _Fine_. He’s still a jerk though.”

Marty shrugged. “I can agree with that.”

 

~

 

When Cyrus went to collect his books for last period, he realised that TJ was standing in front of his locker.

He scanned the seas of people crowding the corridor for either Buffy or Andi, and when he was satisfied that they definitely weren’t around, he approached the boy with a playful smile. 

“Hey.”

“Hey! What’s up?”

“Well...you’re kind of in front of my locker.”

TJ laughed. “Right, sorry - I’ll move.” 

He stepped aside with an amused smile, allowing Cyrus to unlock his locker and collect his things.

“So...what do you have now?” the boy asked him.

“Photography. What about you?”

“I have History.” 

Cyrus’ eyes flicked down to the books TJ was carrying, and he couldn’t help but notice the test at the top of his pile.

“Hey - you got an A! Nice job.”

TJ’s face immediately reddened at that. He hastily slipped his test back into his history book, giving Cyrus an embarrassed smile. “Thanks! I uh...like history."

Cyrus was going to respond then, but Isaac chose that unfortunate moment to waltz up to TJ with a lazy smirk.

“Hey Kippen,” he greeted, clapping the boy on the back. “Who’s this?”

Cyrus wasn’t sure what he expected TJ to do, but he  _definitely_ didn’t expect the athlete to introduce him with a proud smile.

“This is Cyrus,” he told Isaac.

The shorter boy gave a hesitant wave. Isaac observed him coldly for a moment, that same smirk still tugging at his lips. “Hi, Cyrus.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted (or - saved, really) by the bell. He tried to muster up the sincerest smile he could.  

“Sorry - I have to go now, but it was really nice meeting you!” 

He took off down the corridor then, trying hard not to feel guilty about leaving TJ with Isaac.

 

~

 

Cyrus waited with Buffy and Marty at their bus stop after school (with an umbrella to avoid the sun of course), which resulted in him arriving home later than he usually would.

As he walked passed TJ’s driveway, he casually glanced around for all of their drawings, only to be met with a group of the athlete’s friends.

They weren’t facing him, but Cyrus could already tell what they were all sniggering about. The thought made him want to yell at something.

 

_Again? Really? They couldn’t mind their own business?_

 

His stomach dropped when TJ stepped out of the back-door, an exhausted look on his face as he observed the group. 

“Your sister and her friends drew more of this shit, Kippen?”

The athlete walked over with a sigh. “Yeah, they really love-“ he stopped dead in his tracks the moment his eyes met Cyrus’. 

The pair looked at one another for a few long moments, and when TJ finally turned back to the boys he seemed determined. Cyrus held his breath.

“Actually - you know what? Those aren’t Amber’s. Or her friend’s. They’re  _mine_ , and so were all of the other ones. But even if they  _were_ hers, why is that any of your business?” 

Cyrus released the breath he was holding, a small smile settling on his lips at the group’s gobsmacked silence. 

“Now if you all don’t  _mind_ , I have a shit tonne of homework to get through, so I’m going back inside. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, TJ stormed back over to the back door, slamming it shut behind him. 

Isaac turned around then, and his grey eyes briefly locked with Cyrus’. The shorter boy gave him a smile, before rushing away to his front door.

 

~

 

Cyrus tried to busy himself with homework that afternoon, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened.

TJ - as in TJ  _Kippen_ \- had stood up to his friends after seeing Cyrus there. Surely that couldn’t be right.

His plan had never been to become friends with him - and really, Cyrus wouldn’t even consider them friends. They were just acquaintances. Acquaintances that had interacted a few times, and absolutely nothing more.

He was never supposed to start seeing  _good_ in TJ.

To be fair, the boy was making it awfully hard to dislike him with all of his softness. Helping him draw, asking him about dinosaurs and now this?

Cyrus’ head was spinning.

After dinner, he was still sneaking glances out of his window in hopes that TJ would be there, drawing as normal. 

Finally, when the sky had faded from oranges and yellows to purples and blues, he saw the boy walk outside with his usual box of chalks.

Cyrus had passed the point of convincing himself not to go down and talk to TJ; he was far too curious after what had happened, and it wasn’t like one more conversation would cause any harm. Right?

With this thought in mind, he rushed downstairs and pulled his shoes on, stopping by the living room to tell his dad that he’d be next door for a while.

This time, he didn’t hesitate before approaching the boy.

“Hey.”

TJ looked up with a soft smile. “Hey. I had a feeling you’d come down.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. You can see my driveway from your room, right?”

Cyrus’ cheeks reddened at that, and he felt oddly exposed as he sat down in front of the boy. “Uh...yeah. I can.”

Silence fell for a moment. Cyrus broke it before it could extend too long. 

“I’m sorry if you felt pressured to tell your friends the truth today. I really didn’t mean to-“

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” TJ interrupted. “I shouldn’t have told them they were Amber’s anyway - it was wrong, and I knew it was, I just...I don’t know. I regret not telling them off sooner.” 

TJ’s eyes were wandering now, and Cyrus could tell that talking about his friends made him feel uncomfortable. He wanted more than anything to keep pressing, but he decided against it.

“Well...you did, which is what matters. And now hopefully they won’t make fun of your drawings? Or hose them away?”

“Hopefully.” the athlete confirmed with a wince.

Cyrus had planned on smoothly changing the topic from there, but he came up blank on ways to do that. 

“Hey! Have you seen my shirt?”

Okay - so it wasn’t the most subtle topic change, but his shirt  _was_ cool. How could it not be when it had a T-rex drinking tea on it, with the words ‘tea rex’ stamped across it?

Thankfully enough, TJ seemed to find it amusing. “I did, actually - at school today. It’s a very cool dinosaur pun.”

“Thank you! I’m glad someone appreciates it.”

TJ smiled fondly at the boy, before moving to open his box of chalk. “Hey, could I draw you?”

Cyrus’ eyes widened. “You wanna draw  _me?"_

“Yeah, why not? I think you’d be good to draw. Only if you’re okay with it, of course.”

“Uh - yeah! Sure. Totally."

“Great! I’ll choose some colours.”

 

_Acquaintances drew each other sometimes_ , Cyrus assured himself.  _This still didn’t mean that there was a friendship forming between them._

 

He watched as TJ laid out an array of colours, before looking back up at the boy with a smile. “Okay - now all you have to do is sit still.”

Cyrus nodded. “I think I can do that.” 

TJ’s eyes met his for a few long moments, and it was only a matter of seconds before Cyrus was bursting into laughter.

“Cyrus! You had one job!”

“That was  _your_ fault though!”

“How?!”

“You were staring at me!” 

TJ just shook his head, a fond grin on his lips as he watched the boy collect himself again. “I’m trying to draw you, so I kind of  _have_ to look at you.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be a statue from now on, I promise.”

“Good,” TJ said, clapping his hands together. “Take two!”  

Cyrus stilled again, and tried to look anywhere but TJ as the boy started choosing colours.

As he began sketching out the basic shape, his eyes flicked back to Cyrus. “Why don’t you tell me about...your favourite reptile?”

The shorter boy immediately perked up at that. “Can it be a few of my favourites? I don’t think I can choose just one.”

“Sure!” 

“Well...there’s the green iguana, who I like because they’re pretty chilled out. They don’t really have to hunt because they’re mainly herbivores, so they just spend most of their time lounging around in the sun.”

“That sounds nice.” TJ murmured, glancing briefly back up at the boy.

“Yeah! Also - they spend most of their lives in the canopy, but they’re super good swimmers so they can dive into nearby water to get away from predators.”

TJ glanced up again, a grin tugging at his lips now. "That’s pretty handy."

Cyrus smiled softly at that. He was about to move on to another reptile - specifically, the gaboon viper - but he faltered for a moment when he caught sight of TJ.

He had moved on to a few finer details, and as a result his jaw had tensed as he concentrated on drawing. His tongue was also poked out the slightest amount and his hair looked soft for once and -  _Oh no_. 

 

_TJ looked cute._

 

The boy looked up from his drawing, giving Cyrus a confused smile. “Was that the only one?”

“Uh - no! There’s another, I was just...resting my voice.” 

With that, Cyrus launched into an explanation of the gaboon viper, forcibly pushing all the thoughts he had about TJ Kippen looking cute to the back of his mind.

TJ finished his drawing about 45 minutes later, by which time Cyrus had officially banished all thoughts about the boy looking cute from his mind.

Although he had been sneaking glances at the drawing every now and again, he didn’t get to fully take it in until TJ moved aside.

“Whoa,” he breathed. “You did this with chalk?”

“ _Expensive_ chalk.” TJ reminded him.

Cyrus smiled. “Good point. I wasn’t expecting so many colours, but it looks so cool! I see you kept my hair brown too.”

“Oh, yeah - I definitely couldn’t ruin the hair.”

A brief silence fell as they both observed the drawing.

“Could I take a photo of this?”

“Of course!” 

Cyrus beamed at the boy as he pulled out his phone, and he spent a few moments trying to get a good angle before snapping the picture.

TJ smiled hesitantly. “Um - speaking of phones actually, I just realised that I don’t have your number.” 

Cyrus felt his stomach flip.

_Talking was one thing, but texting? That was a whole other ballgame, and it could very easily lead into friendship territory._

_But - acquaintances exchanged phone numbers all the time_ , he rationalised.  _This still wouldn't make them friends by any means._

He hesitated for a moment longer, before nodding slowly.

“You’re right,” he agreed, handing TJ his phone. “Type your number in and I’ll add you.”


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus learns something surprising about TJ. He begins to accept the friendship forming between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments so far!!

The following day was Friday, which meant that there was officially only two school weeks left until summer vacation. 

Unfortunately, it also meant that Buffy had a basketball team meeting at lunch, which left Cyrus alone at their usual table while Andi, Jonah and Marty went to get food.

He had seen TJ approaching, but he didn’t think for a second that the boy was walking towards  _him_. When the athlete stopped right in front of his table with a bright smile, Cyrus very nearly had a heart attack. 

“Hey!”

The shorter boy glanced around nervously for a moment, before hesitantly returning the smile. “Uh - hey. What’s up?” 

 “Well...you seem kind of alone here and am I too, so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me in the library?”

 He inhaled sharply at that. “Um...”

 TJ’s face fell slightly, and Cyrus winced.

 

 _Acquaintances hang out sometimes,_ he assured himself.  _They still weren’t friends._

 

“Sure! I just have to grab something from my locker real quick - can I meet you there?”

 TJ immediately brightened. “Yup! I’ll be at the table in the very right corner.”

The moment he turned to walk away, Cyrus jumped up and ran towards his friends, who were all waiting in line at the opposite side of the cafeteria. 

 He realised with a small sigh of relief that they definitely couldn’t have seen him talking to TJ amongst the swarms of students.

“Andi!” he called.

The girl turned to him, a surprised smile on her lips. “Cyrus! What’s going on?”

 “I just remembered that I have a meeting with...Mr Coleman! Like right now.”

 “...Mr Coleman?” she asked slowly.

 “Yeah. For help with Quadratics.” 

Andi eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before sighing reluctantly and nodding. “Okay then. See you after school?” 

“I’ll see you then.” he confirmed.

As Cyrus headed from the cafeteria to the library, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

_He’s never had to lie to Andi before - or any of his other friends for that matter. He didn’t like the feeling whatsoever._

TJ seemed to sense this as he approached the table, because his face visibly softened with concern. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Cyrus took the seat opposite him, mustering up the most convincing smile he could. "Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

TJ’s smile was patient as he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.

 “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to - I have Uno cards we can play with - but I won’t judge. Whatever it is.”

Cyrus sighed and grabbed the Uno cards, shuffling them absent-mindedly as he thought about what to say.

“You probably already know this, but Buffy doesn’t like you very much.”

In hindsight he probably shouldn’t have been so frank about it, but he really wasn’t sure how he could’ve brought it up gently.

TJ let out a small, humourless laugh. “Yeah. I know.”

Cyrus didn’t say anything more, so the boy sighed and continued.

“I still feel bad about getting her suspended from the team. I wanted to apologise right after, but my stupid pride got in the way and then time passed and now I feel like it’s too late.”

 _Wait. TJ wanted to apologise?_  

“It’s not too late,” Cyrus said quickly. “She’d still appreciate it.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely.”

TJ leaned back in his chair again, chewing on his lip as he thought about it. There was very obvious conflict written on his face.

“I guess I probably should,” he eventually conceded. “She deserves that much.”

 

Cyrus felt his heart leap.  _Maybe they could be friends after all?_

 

The light smile from earlier was slowly returning to TJ’s lips. “But...I’ll do it at school next week."

“That sounds good to me! Now - how about that game of Uno? The cards are very shuffled right now.”

TJ’s smile took a playful edge as he reached over to grab the deck from Cyrus. “I was wondering when you were gonna stop shuffling.”

Cyrus watched as he dealt the cards, a challenging smirk on his lips. “I hope you know that I have very good luck when it comes to Uno.”

TJ lifted an eyebrow at the boy. “Is that so? Well, what if I told you that I also have pretty good luck when it comes to Uno?”

“I’d say that it’s not as good as mine.”

The athlete handed Cyrus his final card. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” he responded.

There was a teasing lilt in his voice that made Cyrus’ stomach flip for some reason. He quickly tried to brush the feeling off.

“I guess we will.”

 

~

 

“So, are you still doubting my luck when it comes to Uno?”

TJ smiled fondly at that, playfully bumping into the boy as they walked. “Whatever. I still want a rematch.”

“You had 3 rematches!”

“Well, I want another one!”

Cyrus exaggerated a sigh. “You need to let me have this - I have nothing else going for me!” 

The athlete’s face softened at that, and his voice had lost its playfulness when he spoke again.

“You have lots of things going for you.” 

Cyrus shifted his gaze towards the ground, immediately regretting the comment. “I really don’t, but it’s fine.” he insisted, scoffing slightly.

TJ wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they headed towards the locker area. “You definitely do.”

His voice was soft and firm at the same time, and it somehow made Cyrus want to believe him. 

“Your photos were at the art exhibit on Wednesday, weren’t they? That means your teacher thought they were good.”

Cyrus opened his mouth to object, but TJ pressed on.

“And what about your stuff for the school debating team? Your English teacher chose you for that too.”

“Yeah...but-“

“ _And_  you got that award for media last year - straight A’s for all of your videos?”

“How on  _earth_  do you remember that?”

TJ’s cheeks reddened slightly. “I just do,” he replied quickly. “But that’s beside the point! You’re one of the nicest people I’ve talked to, and you have a  _lot_  of things going for you.”

Cyrus blinked at the boy a few times, before a slow smile began to spread across his face. “Thanks, TJ.”

The athlete returned the smile, removing his arm and taking a small step back. “No problem. I have class now, but...I’ll see you later?”

Cyrus had passed the point of pretending that they wouldn’t be speaking again, so he nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.”

He watched TJ walk away for a few moments, before turning to move towards his locker. His heart stopped when he was immediately blocked by a furious-looking Andi.

 

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

 

“Uh, hey Andi! Fancy seeing you h-“

“ _That’s_  where you were at lunch? With  _TJ_   _Kippen_?”

Cyrus winced slightly at the harsh tone. “I’m sorry! I know Buffy doesn’t like him, but hear me out-“

“ _Cyrus_. I’m not just mad that you were hanging out with TJ - I’m mad that you  _lied_  to me about where you were.”

“I know, I really didn’t want to, but-“ he paused for a moment to collect himself, sighing heavily. “Look - can we find somewhere to sit please?”

“I’m not missing class,” she responded.

“Fine. Then can we please lower our voices?”

Andi narrowed her eyes at him, but she nodded all the same. 

“I honestly didn’t want to lie, I swear - I just didn’t want to say that I was with TJ. I knew you wouldn’t like it.”

“Then  _why_  were you even with him? _”_

“We were just talking about classes, I swear - we’re not even friends!”

Andi paused for a moment to observe the boy suspiciously, before nodding slowly. 

“ _Please_  don’t tell Buffy.” he begged.

She sighed at that the pleading expression on her friend’s face. “ _Fine_.”

 

~

 

Cyrus spent longer than usual tossing and turning that night.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what he had told Andi - that he and TJ weren’t friends. But  _were_  they? They had only been talking for little over a week, but Cyrus somehow felt almost as comfortable around him as he did with his other friends.

He couldn’t deny the fact that he had a special kind of confidence reserved only for his interactions with TJ, and it seemed to come out automatically whenever he spoke to the boy.

Cyrus groaned into his pillow for about the hundredth time that night.

He couldn’t deny it anymore - there  _was_  a friendship forming between him and TJ. 

And for some wild reason, he was more than okay with that.

 

~

 

It was a ridiculously hot Saturday morning, and Cyrus was in his room putting some photos up on the wall. Although he had a small fan going on his desk, the stifling heat was beginning to make him feel hazy.

When he almost put a photo up backwards, he decided it was time to stop.

He threw a casual glance out of the window as he walked over to his desk, immediately double-taking when he noticed TJ out on his driveway. 

After a few more moments, the boy looked up and caught Cyrus’ eye. A bright smile lit up his face, and he quickly put down the chalk he was holding so he could reach over to grab his phone. Cyrus watched in amusement as TJ held it up, pointing to it with his free hand.

Sure enough - when he checked his phone there was a new message.

 

 **TJ:** Hey!! Wanna come over? I have the house to myself today :) 

 

Cyrus hesitated for a moment, before smiling and flashing the boy a thumbs-up.

“Over to next door again?” his dad asked him as he rushed past the kitchen. 

He stopped in his tracks, smiling guiltily and nodding.

“Well, before you go - who is this boy again?”

“His name’s TJ.”

His dad paused for a moment, before smiling wide. “Okay. Have fun!” 

“Thanks!” Cyrus called, continuing his rush to the front door.

TJ had packed up his chalk by the time Cyrus approached, a bright smile on his lips.

“Hey!” 

TJ returned the smile. “Hey. What’s up?”

“The temperature.” he responded, wincing slightly.

The athlete laughed as they began to make their way to his house.

“Also -  _why_  are you wearing your hat backwards?” Cyrus accused. “You need protection from the sun!”

“But it looks  _cool,”_ TJ whined. 

The shorter boy just shook his head and reached over to correct his hat. TJ reluctantly let him, but the pout didn’t leave his lips as Cyrus pulled away.

“Now I don’t look cool.”

“But you sure do look protected!”  

TJ gave the boy an amused smile as he held open the door, stepping aside to let him in. “I won’t even need it inside.”

“Well then, you’ll know for next time.”

“And what exactly will you do if I wear it backwards again?”  

He gently closed the door behind him, turning to the shorter boy with a teasing grin. Cyrus lifted an eyebrow at him.

“I guess I’d just have to glue the hat to your head.”

TJ gasped dramatically, which the other boy couldn’t help but giggle at. 

The athlete led him to the kitchen after that, where Cyrus gave him a confused look.

“...Is there a reason we’re in here?” he asked.

TJ smiled. “Well,” he began. “I was thinking maybe we could make something? Because it’s hot and making stuff is fun.”

Cyrus’ face paled slightly. “Make something?”

“Yeah,” TJ replied, his voice soft. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong! It’s just...I’m not sure if that’s the best idea.”

“Why not?”

Cyrus sighed heavily, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. “I can’t bake to save my life.”

“Oh. Well...that’s fine, I promise it’s super easy to make.”

“I’m sure it is! But I really don’t trust myself. I’ve made myself look like an idiot one too many times while trying to bake.” 

TJ hesitantly walked over to the boy, leaning against the counter next to him.

“What about those chalk drawings? You didn’t think you were good at that, but they turned out well.”

Cyrus grimaced slightly. “I don’t even know why I agreed to that, honestly. I guess I just...” he trailed off as he looked over at TJ, a shy smile on his lips, “trusted you.” 

TJ pushed himself off the counter, returning the smile as he walked over to the fridge. “Well...if you trusted me then, you can trust me now, right?” 

Cyrus opened his mouth to object, but he quickly shut it again. After a few more moments, he nodded reluctantly.

“I guess that’s true,” he relented.

“Great! So...wanna help me melt the chocolate?”

The boy walked over to where TJ was stood, smiling wide. “Sure.”

 

~

 

That afternoon found them lounging on TJ’s couch in front of a few fans, eating the frozen banana pops they had made earlier.

Cyrus had spent a few minutes ranting about how overrated T-rexes were, while TJ had just listened with a small smile on his lip.

Eventually Cyrus had to pause, which gave him the opportunity to speak.

“Weren’t you wearing a shirt with a T-rex pun on it a few days ago?”

“I still like T-rex’s! I just think they’re overrated. There are plenty of cooler dinosaurs who don’t get a fraction of the attention that they do.”

TJ didn’t speak for a moment, but when he did there was a fond smile on his lips.

“You’re one of a kind, Cyrus Goodman.”  

Cyrus’ felt his heart  _leap_  at that. 

He averted his gaze with a shy smile, thinking up desperate ways to change the topic from there. 

“Hey - uh - do you know if Amber likes anyone?” 

It had been the first thing to jump to his head. Thinking about it though - it probably  _was_  a smart question to ask. Andi would pretty much  _die_  of happiness if she found out that Amber liked her, and Cyrus had the sneaking suspicion that she might. 

TJ’s smile slipped slightly. “Why? Do you like her?”

Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh.  _Him? Liking a girl?_

“No,” he assured. “Not at all. I mean - she’s nice and all but...I was kinda asking for a friend.”

The smile slowly returned to TJ’s lips at that. “Okay...well as much as I’d love to tell you who Amber likes, I’m pretty sure she’d actually kill me if I did. Sibling confidentiality, y’know?”

“Dammit,” Cyrus huffed. “Why do you have to be such a good older brother?”

TJ laughed at that, patting the boy’s shoulder sympathetically. “If it helps, I don’t think you have to worry.”

Cyrus narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Absolutely nothing! Hey - wanna watch Brooklyn 99?”

The shorter boy still looked suspicious, but an undeniable smile was tugging at his lips now. “Fine. You win this round.”


	4. Blocked (but not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus goes to TJ's basketball game. Stuff happens. (Very descriptive, I know!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short ish chapter today! The rest will be longer <3

**TJ:** Hey Cyrus! I totally forgot to ask while you were over, but I was wondering if you wanted to come watch my basketball game tomorrow?

 

Cyrus re-read the text for about the hundredth time that night, pacing in his room as he tossed up the pro’s and con’s of going to see TJ’s game.

He  _wanted_  to go, but there was a possibility that he would bump into either Buffy or Andi there, and there was no _way_  he could lie his way out of that one.

 _Buffy had no reason to see the boys’ basketball team play,_ he rationalised.  _And if Buffy wasn’t there, then Andi probably wouldn’t be either._

He bit his lip, and sent TJ a response before he could regret it.

 

 **Cyrus:**  I’m there :) 

 

~

 

Cyrus was decked out in jeans and an oversized hoodie when he sat down at the very back of the stands, his hood up to avoid easy identification. 

He tried to choose a hoodie he rarely wore so that Buffy or Andi wouldn’t be able to recognise him, but he still couldn’t help but feel nervous as he waited for the game to start. 

_It was impossible to spot anyone in the crowd - either of them could be there for all he knew._

He tried to shake off the thought, and instead focused back on his phone. He glanced up occasionally to watch TJ and teammates as they warmed up, but he didn’t put his phone away until he heard a voice announce that the game was starting.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to tonight’s basketball final, hosted by-“ 

_Wait. Final? That meant this was important. As the girls’ basketball team captain, Buffy would want to seem like she was showing support for the boys’ basketball team. Did that mean she was there?_

_Oh_ man _, he needed to get a grip._

He concentrated on the announcer’s voice again, watching as the basketball players all got into their respective positions. 

Cyrus casually looked to TJ, and realised with a pang that the boy’s eyes were scanning the crowd. He didn’t seem to find what he was looking for, if the way his face fell was any indicator. 

 _Wait. Was TJ looking for_ him?

He nervously glanced around at the people around him - mainly parents, which he was thankful for - before sighing heavily and tugging his hood back. He stood up and waved frantically in attempt to capture the boy’s attention.

Thankfully enough - it worked. TJ’s eyes found him almost instantly, and the blinding smile that came to his lips was worth the potential exposure.

A whistle sounded to indicate the start of the game, and the athlete quickly redirected his attention.

For some reason, Cyrus couldn’t pry his eyes away from TJ as he moved across the court, intercepting passes and shooting for goals when the opportunity arose. He rationalised that it was because TJ seemed to be the best player on his team - naturally his eyes would follow him.

The game was a close one; the two teams were tied in the last 20 seconds, and TJ’s team was relying on him to score a foul shot. 

Even the announcer stopped talking as TJ shifted, taking a deep breath and poising to shoot.

The ball left his hands, and it seemed to move in slow motion as it streaked through the air. 

The moment it fell through the hoop, roaring cheers erupted from the Jefferson High students and their families. Even Cyrus stood up unthinkingly to join everyone else, forgetting completely about why he had sat at the very back in the first place.

Cyrus rushed down the stands, apologising profusely to the people he bumped into as he went. His hood fell back in the process, but he couldn’t find it within himself to care as he ran up to the court, sending TJ the brightest smile he could.

The athlete perked up immediately, separating himself from his friends and jogging up to the boy. 

“You did amazing!” 

TJ smiled bashfully at that. “Thanks, Cy.” 

_Well that was new._

“Cy?” he questioned, his smile widening.

“Yeah...is that okay?”

“It’s more than okay!” 

They both stood there for a moment, until Cyrus was pulled back into reality by a voice he  _really_  didn’t want to hear at that moment.

 

“Cyrus?!”

 

His face paled slightly as he slowly turned around, meeting Buffy’s furious gaze. Marty was right next to her, looking at TJ accusingly.

“Buffy, I can honestly explain - we aren’t even-“

“Save it,” she interrupted, moving forward to take his arm. “And stay  _away_  from him.” she told TJ.

“Yeah,” Marty agreed. “What she said.” 

Buffy marched away then, pulling Cyrus along with her while Marty jogged to keep up.

He glanced back at TJ, who was looking after them sadly as his friends swarmed him once again.

 

_Shit._

 

_~_

 

“Cyrus, what were you even  _thinking_?” Buffy demanded.

Cyrus looked up from the ground, his expression pleading. “I know you don’t like him, but I  _swear_  he feels bad about getting you suspended from the team, he wants to apologise-“

“Oh please,” Buffy scoffed. “I’m guessing  _he_  told you this?”

Cyrus didn’t say anything. That seemed to tell her everything she needed to know. 

“Cyrus - this is exactly what I was worried about. You’re too nice! And when it comes to people like TJ, you _always_  want to see the good in them. Even when there isn’t any.” 

He desperately looked to Marty, who was sitting opposite them in the booth. Cyrus couldn’t help but roll his eyes when the boy just shrugged, clearly wanting to go along with whatever Buffy was saying.

“He’s been nothing but nice to me, Buffy! I don’t know what to say! I swear he really  _does_  want to apologise-“

“This isn’t just about me,” Buffy told him. “TJ is  _not_  a good person to hang around. You’ve _seen_ first-hand what his friends are like! He hangs out with people who play with their parent’s guns-“

“That was in middle school,” he interrupted, “and you  _know_  he wasn’t there for that!”

 _“_ Exactly - imagine what they do _now!”_

“But-“ 

Buffy cut him off with a look, and he knew then that there was no winning.  

“Fine,” he sighed. “I won’t hang out with him. I’ll block his number. I’ll do whatever. Just  _please_  don’t tell me I’m losing you _._ ”

Buffy immediately softened at that. She leant over to give the boy a tight hug. "You’ll never lose me.” 

 

~

 

 **Cyrus:**  We can’t be friends. I’m sorry.

 

_[Block this number?]_

 

Cyrus hesitated for a moment, his finger hovering over the ‘yes’ option. 

_If he just didn’t respond, then that had to be as good as blocking him, right?_

He hesitated for a moment longer before making up his mind.

 

_[No]_

 

_~_

 

The next three days passed by as normal. In fact, they were  _painfully_  normal if you asked Cyrus. TJ called him constantly, but he still couldn’t find it within him to block the boy so he just settled on declining all of them.

Sometimes when he went outside he saw TJ drawing, either alone or with Amber. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt whenever he did.

He finished his assignments and studied for his semester tests, making sure to keep his curtains drawn at all times to avoid any TJ-related distraction.

He sat with his friends at lunch, and tried to keep his glances towards TJ minimal; even if he  _could_  see the boy gradually becoming sadder and sadder around his friends.

Buffy and Andi were practically around him at all times, so the athlete rarely had any opportunity to approach him.

The calls had stopped completely by Monday night, and Cyrus couldn’t help but think that the boy had given up.

He didn’t blame him; Buffy and Andi could both be scary when they wanted to be after all, and they hadn’t even really become  _friends_  per se. They were just two people who had spoken a couple of times.

 

~

 

“You’re standing in front of my locker.”

TJ gave him a hesitant smile, but he didn’t move. “I know.”

“Buffy would  _kill_  you if she saw us talking.”

The boy just smiled again. “I know.”

“We’re not friends, TJ. I’ve known Buffy since I was like 6, I can’t-“

“I know.”   

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“Okay,” Cyrus sighed. “So...why are you here?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

The shorter boy shook his head at that, looking down at the ground with a soft smile. 

 _Why did TJ have to be so nice to him? It really wasn’t fair, considering that Cyrus was trying to_ avoid _him at the current time._

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

TJ quirked a disbelieving eyebrow. “The last time you said that, you didn’t really mean it.”

Cyrus sighed again, glancing around nervously for any sign of his friends. “You know what? I can survive one math lesson without my calculator. Bye TJ.” 

With that, he took off down the corridor towards his next class.

 

~

 

TJ approached him again later that afternoon while Cyrus was checking his mailbox.

“Hey-“

“ _God_  - what do I have to say to make you leave me alone?!”

He honestly didn’t mean for the words to sound so harsh, but his day had been a frustrating one and he was finding it hard to reign in his anger.

He regretted them almost immediately when TJ’s face fell.

“Sorry. You um...left your bracelet at my place. I think you took it off while we were making those banana pops. It looked important so I thought you’d probably want it back.”

Cyrus’ throat felt tight as he accepted the bracelet, looking down at it with a sad smile. It was the friendship bracelet Andi had made for the good hair crew in middle school.  _How could he have possibly forgotten about it?_

“I’m sorry for snapping, TJ. I-“

When he looked up the boy was already headed to his front door. All Cyrus did was watch as TJ walked inside without sparing him a glance, the words to call him back stuck in his throat. After a few moments, all he was staring at was a closed door.

Cyrus lingered there for a moment, feeling this throat become even tighter. Hopelessness began to set in then. 

He knew it wouldn’t open again.

A few tears slipped down his face as he walked back inside and rushed up to his bedroom, but the majority of them fell when he was safely on his bed with his head buried in a pillow. 

_To sum the day up - Andi and Buffy were fighting for reasons he couldn’t keep up with anymore and he couldn’t talk to one without annoying the other, he had been set about a billion more assignments to finish by the end of the week and now he had officially lost TJ - the person who had cared enough to ask him if he was okay even when Cyrus told him they couldn’t be friends._

_Summer vacation was looking great already._


	5. Apologising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ tries to make amends. Cyrus introduces him to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE HIATUS IS ALMOST OVER

Cyrus missed him.

 

It honestly might’ve been the most insane thing he’s ever had to admit to himself, and he blamed his teen angst for it almost entirely.

Although - he  _did_  also blame TJ’s soft smiles, and the endearing way his eyes always seemed to gleam with this mischievous confidence when they were together. Most importantly, he blamed the way that TJ was always able to pick up when there was something wrong.

He’d spent every day of the past few years with the same friendship group; the same routine, the same hang-out places, the same  _everything_. Then suddenly TJ had come along and changed things. He’d encouraged Cyrus to do things he  _wasn’t_  good at for once, all while being nothing but unwaveringly supportive.

Knowing all that, who could honestly blame him for wanting to see good in TJ? Or for thinking that just  _maybe_ , all the boy needed was a little push to stand up to Isaac and his friends.

This was ridiculous. They had only been interacting for about a week and a half! It should be easy to forget about him, just as easy as it had been to talk to him, to draw with him, to laugh at his ridiculous jokes, to-

 

Yeah. He’d stop there.

 

_~_

 

_ 3:37am _

 

 **Cyrus:** Hey

 **Cyrus:** I know it’s late, but I can’t stop thinking about what I said. I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to stop hanging out with you and I really, really never wanted to hurt you.

 **Cyrus:**  You’ve been nothing but nice to me, and here I am trying to push you away.

 **Cyrus:**  Classic Cyrus!

 **Cyrus:**  I wish Buffy knew how you are around me

 **Cyrus:**  She still probably wouldn’t believe it

 **Cyrus:**  I know this is all stupid. I’m just sorry.

 

_[Delete 7 messages?]_

_[Yes]_

 

_~_

 

Cyrus wouldn’t usually use ‘impulsive’ as a self-descriptor, but sometimes TJ made him question that. He threw out a lot of things when the other boy was around, and one of them just happened to be caution.

It was honestly the only way he could explain his decision to approach TJ the following day after school. To be fair; he  _did_  have an internal debate with himself, it had just lasted about 2 seconds.

“Hey.”

Buffy’s training session could’ve been over at any moment, and there Cyrus was greeting TJ. Really - it was  _his_ fault for looking like such a sad, lonely puppy.

The boy slowly looked up, blinking a few times as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Uh. Hey. Why are you...” he trailed off, gesturing vaguely between them.

Cyrus hesitantly took the seat opposite him.

 “You’re alone here,” he commented, avoiding the question completely.

“Yeah. Amber had work and most of Isaac’s friends aren’t really into books. As you can probably imagine.” 

He laughed slightly at that, playing with the pages of his own book as he thought about what to say.

“I, um...wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday. I was frustrated about other things, and I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have. I’m really sorry.” 

“Oh,” TJ breathed, his eyes wide. “Well...thanks. It’s fine, really.”

Cyrus smiled timidly. “...I guess I also wanted to ask how you how you’re doing? I ran off the other day before I could ask.” 

TJ just shook his head, lowering his gaze to the table. “That’s not necessary.”

“You asked how  _I_  was doing.”

“That’s because  _you’re_  the one that probably got yelled at by your best friend-“

“Well _you’re_  the one with friends who treat you terribly half the time,” he countered. 

TJ didn’t deny it; although for a moment he looked like he wanted to. Instead, he just sighed heavily and sank down in his chair. 

“I’m gonna try something tomorrow,” he said suddenly.

_Well that was a topic change._

“Like what?”

“I’m not saying.”

Cyrus let out an amused huff. “Then why bring it up?”

“Because if it goes well, we might be able to hang out again without worrying.”

 

_Was TJ implying what Cyrus thought he was implying?_

 

Cyrus’ phone went off then, and he knew that it was probably a text from Buffy. He stood up abruptly and gave TJ a bright smile.

“Then...I hope whatever you’re trying goes well. I’ll see you later, TJ.”

With that, he grabbed his book and headed off to the basketball courts.

 

~

 

On Thursday, Cyrus was headed to Buffy’s locker after school so that they could wait at her bus stop together.

He turned the usual corner, fully prepared to greet the girl, only to see-

_TJ. Was he there to apologise?_

He quickly closed his mouth and ducked back behind the corner. He wasn’t  _usually_  one to eavesdrop _,_ but he’d definitely make an exception for this.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the exact person I  _don’t_  want to talk to right now,” said Buffy, slamming her locker shut.

TJ raised his arms in surrender. “I come in peace, I swear.”

“Oh. Do you? Because the last time you said that, you told me about 2 seconds later that I was suspended from the team. For 2  _months!_ ” 

There was no denying it - Buffy was angry, and TJ had quickly picked up on it if the way he retreated back into himself was any indicator. His gaze still didn’t shift though.

“I know. But can you please just hear me out?” 

Buffy sighed and glanced both ways down the corridor. Cyrus held his breath.

“ _Fine_.” 

TJ was anxiously fiddling with the hem of his hoodie now, and Cyrus began to feel nervous  _for_  him.

“I know I should’ve done this ages ago, but I really  _am_  sorry for getting you kicked from the team. And for trying to manipulate you to do my homework. It was wrong, and I never should’ve done it.”

Buffy scoffed. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”

“If it means anything, I still feel guilty about it every time I see you?” TJ tried.

Buffy gave him a withering look, but there was a noticeable smile tugging at her lips now. “That  _does_  kind of make me feel better,” she admitted. “But that’s not the only thing. The people you hang around with - your _friends_  - they’re all jerks, TJ. You don’t know half the stuff they get up to while you’re not there, they-“

“I’ll stop hanging out with them.”

Buffy’s eye’s widened. “You’ll  _what_?” she demanded.

“I won’t hang out with them anymore.” he repeated. “Most of them aren’t even that good to me anyway.”

When Buffy responded, her voice had softened significantly. “Okay... well, cool I guess.”

“Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but I care more about Cyrus than I ever cared about all of  _them_  combined.”

His heart skipped a beat.  _Was TJ being honest about that?_ The expression on his face seemed pained as he said the words, and Cyrus couldn’t help but think that the boy wasn’t being entirely truthful.

Neither of them spoke for a few long moments. There was obvious conflict on Buffy’s face as she observed the boy standing across from her.

“Okay...” she replied slowly. “I can accept that.”

A hopeful smile came to TJ’s lips. “Accept what?”

“I can accept that apology,” she clarified.

“So, we’re good?”

She returned TJ’s smile. “Yeah. We’re good.” 

Cyrus couldn’t help a wide smile of his own.  _Had he just witnessed the end of Buffy’s feud with TJ?_  

“Okay - you can come out now, Cyrus!” Buffy called.

His heart jumped at that, and he nervously stepped around the corner with a guilty smile. TJ’s face visibly reddened when he saw him.

“Sorry.”

Buffy just shook her head, walking up to him and engulfing him in a hug. “No.  _I’m_  sorry,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t have tried to control who you hang out with. I thought I was doing the right thing, but...I never wanted to make you upset. And that’s what I did.”

She paused for a moment once they had pulled away, before adding “You can be friends with whoever you want, okay?”

“I wanna be friends with  _you_ ,” he responded sincerely, giving the girl a soft smile. “And coming from someone as apology-impaired as you, that means a lot to me.” 

Buffy laughed at that, shaking her head as she walked over to grab her bag from the ground. TJ took the opportunity to approach the boy.

“So - we’re cool now too, right?”

Cyrus smiled again, accepting the bro-hug that he was offering. “Yeah. we’re cool.” 

 

~

 

“He said he wasn’t going to!” Buffy huffed.

“He probably just doesn’t have anyone else to sit with,” Cyrus responded flatly.

“Or  _maybe_  he’s just untrustworthy!” 

Cyrus sighed. It was Friday, and TJ was sitting with his usual group of friends at the cafeteria.  This had sparked a rant from Buffy that even  _Marty_  couldn’t stop.

“Honestly, it’s like he  _wants_  me to have a grudge against him. You can’t just promise something like that only to-“ she abruptly stopped talking then, looking across at TJ’s table in disbelief.

Cyrus followed her gaze, and a very similar expression appeared on his face.

_TJ was standing up and gathering his things._

They all watched as the athlete walked over to their table, smiling timidly. 

As he walked, Cyrus couldn’t help but notice that there was one boy from Isaac’s table who looked after him wistfully, clear conflict written all over his face. 

_Was he also considering it? Or was he sad to see TJ go? Either option was surprising to say the least._

“Hey,” TJ greeted, pulling him away from his thoughts. “Can I sit here?”

Everyone except Cyrus looked to Buffy, who was shaking her head in disbelief.

Cyrus was looking at TJ now, a soft smile on his lips as he gave the boy a small wave. TJ returned the smile - and the wave.

Buffy watched the interaction, and after a few moments she let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah. You can sit with us.”

Cyrus immediately brightened at that, shuffling towards Marty to make room for TJ. The boy sat down with a grateful smile, looking nervously down at the table.

No one spoke for a few moments. Cyrus didn’t think he had ever encountered such an uncomfortable silence.

“Um,” he began, clearing his throat. “So...this is TJ, as you all know. TJ, this is Andi, Jonah and Marty. You uh...already know Buffy.”

TJ turned to Marty, an eyebrow lifted in question. “Hey - don’t we have a few classes together?”

Marty shot Buffy an amazed look, before turning to the boy with a nod. “Yeah! We do.”

The conversation shifted from there and although TJ remained silent through most of it, Cyrus considered it a win that his friends were willing to be so casual around the boy.

Eventually (as per usual), Andi began talking about Amber.

“It’s just...she has  _so_  many friends and I feel like I’m just another one of them. How do I skip to the part where we’re close? Should I just message her - which I can do now by the way because she gave me her number - asking if she wants to hang out? Also, have you guys  _seen_  the cute dress she's wearing today?“

TJ lifted an amused eyebrow at that, and leant over towards Cyrus. “Does she always do this?” he whispered.

Cyrus laughed slightly. “Pretty much.” 

“And...everyone’s okay with her liking a girl?”

“Yeah. Why?”

TJ’s smile softened. “No reason. It’s just nice.”

Cyrus thought back to the numerous times he had heard Isaac or one of his cronies refer to people as ‘fag’, and realised with a pang that TJ probably wasn’t used to an accepting environment. 

Suddenly, he felt a whole lot more protective of the boy.

 

~

 

The last week of school was a blur of late nights, coffee and stress. 

TJ continued to sit with Cyrus and his friends at lunch, and everyone gradually warmed up to him as the days passed. 

Andi in particular was quick to realise how much her and TJ had in common, with shared interests like art, dirt-biking, thrift-shopping and vinyl collecting. Cyrus had even found her by TJ’s locker after school, asking him about craft supply store recommendations. No one in their group was particularly crafty apart from Andi, so Cyrus couldn’t blame her for the enthusiasm.

Buffy took a few more days to come around than the others, but eventually she also warmed to TJ (particularly after beating him in a one-on-one basketball match.)

Buffy and Andi were both mysteriously back to being friends, which Cyrus assumed was because they had resolved their dispute (as usual.) 

His late night texting conversations with TJ helped him clear his mind when he wasn’t studying, and eventually they had fallen into a routine. 

On Thursday night in particular, Cyrus was having a crisis over his upcoming Biology test.

 

 **TJ:** Dude, when I tested u today u were pretty much a walking dictionary 

 **TJ:** You’ll be fine. Pinky promise.

 **Cyrus:** Urghh but I might know the wrong stuff!!!

 **Cyrus:** A virtual pinky promise? 

 **TJ:**  Even if there are a few little things u don’t know, that’s fine! It seriously won’t matter that much. You’ve done everything u can

 **TJ:** Well, I could make it a real pinky promise if u came down here 

 

Cyrus laughed softly at that, moving across the room to open his curtains. Sure enough - TJ was down there, looking back up at him with a smile. Two bright lanterns were set on the ground beside his chalk box.

 

 **Cyrus:**  IT’S 10PM

 **TJ:**  And?

 **Cyrus:**  ...

 **Cyrus:**  I’ll be down in a second 

 

After throwing on a hoodie and promising his dad that he wouldn’t go anywhere but TJ’s driveway, Cyrus was on his way.

“Hey, Cy!”  

For some reason, that nickname  _still_  made his heart leap.

“Hey! How’s it going down here?”

“Not bad. How was it going up there in your castle?” TJ teased.

Cyrus sat down on the concrete with a sigh, giving the boy a half-hearted smile. “Bad.” 

“Okay...well, you’re not in the castle anymore. You’re in a forest. Where your responsibilities don’t matter.”

Cyrus raised an amused eyebrow at that. “Where are all the trees?”

TJ sifted through his chalk box for a moment, before pulling out a dark green. “You have to draw them - duh.” 

“Can I leave the animals to you?” he asked, accepting the chalk with a small smile.

“Yup. Just tell me which ones and I’ll look up some references.” 

“Hmm...can you do a green iguana?”

TJ chuckled, and began typing something into his phone. “I should’ve known,” he teased. “The gaboon viper too, I’m guessing?

Cyrus ducked his head at that, an embarrassed smile on his lips as he began to busy himself with drawing trees. “Yeah.” 

And really - talking to TJ shouldn’t have made him forget about his Biology test so easily, but it did, and he was thankful.

“Do you still want that pinky promise, by the way?” 

“I forgot about that,” Cyrus admitted, “but...I think I’m good now.”

 

~

 

It was their last day, and the teachers had all let their students out early on the condition that they stayed on school grounds until the bell.

The corridors were absolute chaos, with kids jumping around, loudly announcing their holiday plans to anyone that would listen and murmuring excitedly amongst themselves. 

Cyrus didn’t dare move from his locker - his small frame would definitely end up being swept away by a crowd if he did - so he opted to stand around tapping away at his phone.

He thought at first that he had imagined TJ’s voice amongst the array of other noises, but when he looked up the boy was standing right in front of him.

“I found you!” 

Cyrus laughed at that, pocketing his phone and taking a small step forward. “You found me!” he confirmed teasingly.

TJ smiled. “I uh...wanted to tell you something.” 

Cyrus’ eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Like what?”

“It’s kind of sappy.”

“Sappy’s fine,” He assured.

“Okay...well I guess I just wanted to say thanks. For being so nice to me. And hanging out with me. You had no reason to, but you were anyway..." 

Cyrus didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, he was flinging his arms around the boy and pulling him into a tight hug. TJ stilled with shock for a few seconds, before wrapping his arms around him with a fond smile.

Cyrus could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest when they finally pulled away. He rationalised that it was from the excitement of summer vacation, rather than...yeah, he wasn’t going there.


	6. TJ's friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus and TJ hang out together during the first few weeks of summer vacation. TJ confesses something about his old friendship group to Cyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I accidentally deleted this entire chapter (go me!) and I had to rewrite a majority of it. I hope it's okay!!

As the weeks passed, Cyrus found himself spending every other day with TJ. Eventually, he even stopped thinking about him as ‘TJ Kippen’, fully getting rid of all the things he had once associated with that name. 

Instead - he was just TJ. The boy who drove him to flea markets and bookshops, the boy who shamelessly sang along to his favourite 80’s CD’s with the car window down and the boy who  _always_  seemed to forget where he had left important things (including his car keys - which had resulted in an hour long raid of his house on one particularly hot Sunday afternoon.) 

He blamed the fact that they lived right next to each other, but really, he just didn’t want to admit that he had begun to crave the boy’s company when they weren’t together. 

By the third week of summer vacation, the knock on Cyrus’ door came as no surprise to anyone. He immediately rushed downstairs to fling it open, fixing his hair as he went.

“Hey there,” he greeted.

TJ stepped inside, an apologetic smile on his lips. “Hey! Sorry I’m late.” 

Cyrus laughed slightly as he closed the door. “No, you’re on time,” he assured. “I invited you at 4:30 because I knew you’d get here around 5.” 

Another thing about TJ - he was always fashionably late to social events. Amber had insisted to Cyrus one that he spends longer in the bathroom getting ready than she does.

“Smart move,” He remarked.

They settled down on the couch after TJ had dashed upstairs to put his bag away.

“So...what do people usually do during sleepovers?” Cyrus inquired, shifting slightly to lay down.

“Play video games?” TJ suggested.

“I only have Mario kart though - and I’m afraid you’ll be angry when I beat you. Which is inevitable, of course.”

The athlete smirked slightly at that. “Cyrus Goodman, is that a challenge?”

“Nope!” he responded cheerily. “It’s just fact.”

The boy glared at Cyrus for a moment, before moving forward to give him a playful shove. “You sure do know how rile someone up, don’t you?”

“Oh I’m sorry, have you already forgotten about that disastrous game of Uno?”

TJ narrowed his eyes. “Alright. Where are the fucking controllers? We’re playing Mario kart.”

Cyrus laughed at that, sitting up and walking over to the TV cabinet to rummage around for the controllers.

As Cyrus had quickly discovered, TJ also happened to be a compulsive swearer. It had taken about a week of constantly hanging out to realise that the boy had obviously just been censoring himself during their first few interactions.

Although Cyrus didn’t usually swear himself (out loud, anyway), he had passed the point of caring when others did. That was definitely a middle school thing.

“Found them!” he called triumphantly.

He pulled the controllers out, only to find that-

“Wow. Do you need some help untangling that?”

Cyrus laughed in disbelief. “Uh. Yeah. That’d be nice.” 

The two boys eventually managed to untangle the cables and set up the game, settling back down on the couch about 10 minutes later.

“Cable untangling should be a professional sport,” TJ remarked, wiping the non-existent sweat off his forehead.

“Are you sure you’re not just being a drama queen?” Cyrus quipped, sending the boy a teasing smile.

TJ shot him a glare. “I’m  _so_  looking forward to winning this thing right now.”

“In your wildest dreams.”

 

~

 

“This is Cyrus Goodman reporting live from his living room - TJ, how are you handling the epic defeat that just occurred?”

TJ just groaned, flopping back onto the couch and throwing a dramatic hand over his face. “No news people allowed!” came the muffled reply.

Cyrus laughed at that, shuffling over slightly to give the boy a playful nudge. “Wanna play Uno instead?”

“I hate you,” TJ grumbled, reluctantly sitting up again.

Cyrus gasped. “You don’t!”

“Yeah, I don’t,” TJ agreed, giving the boy a fond smile. “I could never.” 

 

~

 

Later on when they had retreated to Cyrus’ bedroom, he bravely suggested that they watch a few horror movies.

TJ was always raving about how much he loved horror movies (including the terrible ones), and although the idea terrified Cyrus slightly, he knew he could probably handle it with a friend there. Particularly if that friend was TJ. 

“Are you sure about this, Cy?” he asked him, his hand hovering over the play button.

Cyrus hesitated for a moment, before giving a quick nod.

“Okay.” 

TJ clicked the button, settling back down on the bed amongst all of the pillows. He handed one to Cyrus with a small smile.

“You can hug this if you get scared.”

“Can’t I just hug you?” Cyrus blurted. 

He regretted the words almost instantly, but the athlete didn’t seem to mind too much though. In fact, all he did was raise an amused eyebrow. “That’s cool too.”

Cyrus survived most of the movie, even managing to join in on TJ’s quips about the main characters from time to time. That was - until one particular jump scare that had him jolting violent and grabbing onto the closest thing to him. That thing just happened to be TJ, and the way he ended up clinging to the boy was downright  _embarrassing_.

The athlete chuckled, running a soothing hand up and down the boy’s back. “You can look now,” he murmured after a few moments.

Cyrus slowly lifted his head, a very obvious blush staining his cheeks. “That wasn’t one of my finest moments.” he said with a grimace.

“It’s fine - I did the exact same thing with Amber when we watched our first horror movie.“

He reached over to pause the movie, gently closing the laptop and turning to the boy with a bright smile.

“That one was bad anyway! How about we do something else?”

There was a smirk tugging at TJ’s lips now, and Cyrus felt his stomach flip.

“...Like what?” he asked wearily.

TJ shifted so that he was fully facing the boy, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his hands.

“I don’t know, do you like anyone?”

Cyrus nearly choked at that, and it took a few seconds of wide-eyed staring for him to collect himself again.

“Do I  _what_?”

TJ gave him an amused smile. “Is that a yes?”

“ _No!”_

“Oh come on, we’re friends now!” he complained “There aren’t any girls that you find cute?”

Cyrus opened his mouth to respond, but the words got stuck in his throat. 

_TJ didn’t know he was gay._

“Um...” he stalled, trying to think up a way he could change the topic. “How about we keep watching that horror movie?”

He very nearly face-palmed at his own obviousness. 

TJ smiled mischievously, which only served to make Cyrus even _more_ flustered.

“Are you trying to change the subject?”

“No!” he defended. “It’s just that...well...if there  _were_  someone, it wouldn’t really be a girl per se.” 

TJ went silent for a moment, and Cyrus was worried that he had misread the situation somehow.  _What if the he wasn’t actually okay with it? What if-_  

“Okay. Any cute boys then?”

TJ raised a playful eyebrow, and Cyrus immediately let out a relieved sigh.

 _But - were there any cute boys? TJ was definitely cute, but he was also definitely straight. Plus, that could be put down to friendly admiration. Nothing more._  

“No,” he responded eventually, smiling wide. “I mean - there are lots of cute boys, but I’m not really interested in any.” 

The athlete seemed suspicious, but he nodded anyway.

After a few moments, it was Cyrus’ turn to smirk. “What about you?” he asked.

TJ immediately averted his gaze, turning back to the laptop and opening it. “We’re not going there.”

“What?” Cyrus spluttered, throwing a pillow at the boy. “That’s not fair!”

“Life’s not fair.” TJ responded, throwing him a smug smile.

 

~

 

A few days later when the weather had finally cooled down (and it became socially acceptable to wear hoodies again), TJ and Cyrus were back to drawing with chalk.

They both took a few moments to admire their work once they had finished (although really - Cyrus’ ocean was nothing compared to TJ’s galaxy.)

“Can we drive to the ice-cream parlour?” he asked suddenly.

TJ stopped packing up his chalk for a moment to give the boy a fond eye-roll. “And by ‘we’, I’m guessing you mean me?” 

“Well yeah,” Cyrus replied, reaching over to grab a chalk that had rolled away. ”I’d prefer to make it there in one piece.”

“Practise makes perfect, Cy.”

“Not when it comes to me, it doesn’t.”

TJ gave him a pointed look, and he let out a defeated sigh. “Next time?” he tried.

“...Fine,” the boy agreed, standing up reluctantly and holding out a hand for him to take. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re ridiculously hard to say ‘no’ to?”

Cyrus grinned as he took TJ’s hand. “A few people.”

TJ snorted at that. “It’s definitely your eyes _._ No one does innocent, pleading looks like you do.”

Cyrus’s smile widened, and he decided to demonstrate the exact look that TJ was talking about. 

“Oh no!” the boy gasped, shielding his eyes dramatically. “You’re making me wanna agree to something you haven’t even  _asked_  yet _!”_

“Could you pay for my ice-cream?” he asked hopefully.

“Absolutely not.” 

Cyrus burst into laughter at that, giving TJ a playful shove as they walked towards his car.

"Rude!” 

“Hey - I’m the one driving you there in the first place!” 

“Whatever.”

 

~

 

Okay. So maybe they had gotten slightly side-tracked on their venture to the ice-cream parlour. 

It really should’ve been straight-forward, considering that they had only parked about 50 metres away, but TJ had spotted a thrift shop nearby and the excited smile that came to his lips was so endearing that Cyrus couldn’t refuse him.

That excited look was about 10 times more powerful than his pleading eyes would ever be, and  _that_  was saying something.

They started out at the thrift store, then they moved onto a record store, then a fabric store (because TJ was apparently starting a top secret crafting project with Andi), then a - well - he wasn’t entirely sure. 

“TJ, what  _is_  this place exactly?” he called.

“An LGBT bookstore,” the boy responded cheerily.

“Oh. Okay. Wait -  _what_? Why didn’t you tell me?!” 

He could hear TJ’s soft laughter from the aisle next to him. “I thought you knew!” 

“I’ve just been blindly following you this entire time!” he exclaimed, pocketing his phone and looking around in amazement. 

Now that he was observing the place fully, it was a mystery how he hadn’t picked it up sooner - there were pride flags plastered on the walls, the aisle he was standing in was literally titled ‘LGBT+ History’ and there were varying pride flags for sale by the front counter. Cyrus didn’t think he had ever seen such a colourful place in his life. 

TJ appeared at the end of his aisle, an amused grin on his lips. “I guess you’re just  _very_  oblivious then. I’m getting a lesbian pride pin for Amber, do you want a gay pride one?”

Cyrus’ heart leaped at that. The smile on his face was blinding as he nodded.

“Sure! Thanks.”

“No problem,” TJ smiled. 

 

~

 

It was late afternoon when TJ and Cyrus finally made their way to the ice-cream parlour, both wearing pride pins. (Cyrus was almost inclined to ask why the other boy had brought one for himself, but then he remembered that allies exist.)

Cyrus had ended up paying for both of their ice-creams as a way to thank TJ for the pin, and they settled down on a nearby bench to have them.

Cyrus was sitting alone at the bench while TJ took a bathroom break when, out of nowhere, he heard a voice that made his blood run cold.

“Hey, Goodman. Or  _Cy_ , should I say.”

He slowly lifted his head to find Isaac in front of him, along with a gang of his cronies.

“Hey Isaac,” he returned, shifting uneasily. 

“I fucking  _knew_  it - look at that pin he’s wearing!” one of the boys accused.

The look Isaac gave him at that was downright  _menacing_ , and Cyrus began to feel himself shaking slightly. He nervously glanced around for any signs of TJ. 

“So it’s true,” Isaac nodded. “You  _are_  a fag. I’m guessing you turned TJ too, then?”

“I um - generally prefer the term ‘gay.’” Cyrus responded, his voice small.

“You’re funny,” Isaac remarked, sending the boys on either side of him a nasty smirk. “I can see why TJ thought hanging out with you would be a good idea. Too bad he’ll only come running back to me when he realises what a waste of time you are.” 

Cyrus’ eyebrows were furrowed in confusion now. The blonde-haired boy to Isaac’s right seemed be retreating into himself; avoiding Cyrus’ eye and responding to Isaac with half-hearted smiles. For someone who usually looked more stoic, he certainly seemed to be displaying a lot of emotion at that moment. 

He couldn’t help but wonder if Isaac’s friends even _agreed_ with what he was doing half the time.

“Hey! What’s going on?”

Cyrus didn’t think he had ever been so grateful to hear a voice in his life, and he let out a relieved sigh as TJ jogged over.

“What do you guys think you’re  _doing_?”

Isaac’s eyes went straight to TJ’s pride pin. He ignored the boy’s question entirely. “Why are you  _wearing_  that shit, bro?” he demanded.

“Why the fuck not?”

“‘Are you  _kidding_? People will think-“

“Stop assuming shit,” TJ snapped. “Didn’t you hear me when I told you to fuck off?”

Isaac gave him a withering look, but TJ didn’t back down. After a few moments, he let out a disbelieving huff. “You’re a fucking asshole, Kippen. And if you ever try running back to me again, I swear I’ll-“

“That won’t be happening. Get the hell out of here  _now_.”  

The boy lingered for a moment as if he was torn between staying longer just to disobey the command, and leaving to prove that he was entirely done with TJ. He eventually seemed to choose the latter, because he turned around with a scoff and gestured for the group to follow him.

The same boy who he had noticed in the cafeteria a few weeks ago - Rafael as he later discovered - lingered for a moment longer than the rest. He gave TJ an indecipherable look, and the athlete gave him a small nod. Soon, he was turning around and jogging to catch up with the group.

When they were all out of earshot, Cyrus turned to TJ with a grateful smile.

“Thanks,” he murmured, watching as the boy hesitantly sat down next to him.

“It was nothing. I’m pretty sure he was mostly interested in me, so I’m sorry you had to get caught up in it.”

“It’s fine,” he assured, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

TJ relaxed slightly at the boy’s touch, and his frown melted into a soft smile.

Cyrus was almost entirely convinced he could look at that smile all day.

 

~

 

It was Friday evening now and they were both sprawled across Cyrus’ bed. Although it had been scorching throughout the day, the temperature had thankfully cooled by now.

“Something interesting happened last night.”

Cyrus turned his head to look at the TJ, an eyebrow raised in question. “What?”

“Well...I know I never really talked about my friends much, but they weren’t all bad. There were these two boys...Rafael and Jamie.”

Cyrus’ eyes widened.  _So he_ hadn’t _been seeing things?_

“They were different to the rest of them.”

“In what way?” Cyrus asked, turning fully to face the boy.

TJ looked up at the ceiling for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “They don’t think like the other guys. I know it probably seemed like they did...but they didn’t.”

Cyrus broke the silence that settled after that with a question.

“...Were you friends with them?”

“I think so. Jamie could be a bit closed off sometimes...but they were both there for me when most people weren’t.”

Another silence fell. Cyrus couldn’t help but think back to TJ’s apology.

“So...when you told Buffy that you cared more about me than all of them combined...was that true?”

TJ turned his body to face Cyrus, his expression soft. “I had kinda just had a big argument with them about Isaac, so I really wasn’t thinking straight. I care about you, Cy. But I also care about them.”

Cyrus nodded, cautiously reaching out to place a comforting hand on the boy’s arm. “Well...you can tell them that they’re always welcome to sit with us at school. Or hang out with us.”

TJ smiled gratefully. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk about. Rafael came out on Facebook yesterday.”

“He  _did_? But...Isaac-“

“He ditched them yesterday - after we saw them walk off. Jamie went with him.”

“Whoa.”

TJ nodded, a small smile on his lips as he grabbed his phone. “This is our group chat right now.” 

He handed Cyrus his phone, and the boy took it with an amazed smile.

 

**#isaacisoverparty**

**Jamie:** lolll okay yeah, so i’ve concluded that an Isaac-free lifestyle is definitely way less stressful guys

 **Rafael:** Yep, agreed. I can finally wear that ‘gay af’ shirt I bought like 6 months ago

 **Jamie:** got any that have ‘ally af’ on them?

 **Rafael:** Hahah, no unfortunately. I bet there’s some online though

 **Jamie:** good point! i’ll take a look

 **Jamie:**  oh btw! u down for some one-on-one basketball tomorrow, teej?

 

Cyrus’ heart melted at that. He handed the phone back with an excited grin. “Does this mean you can all be friends now?”

“I think so,” TJ responded, returning the smile. 

“How would you feel about cheer-leading for my game against Jamie tomorrow?”

“I’d be honoured.” 

 

~

 

“Wow, Cyrus. I think you’ve really out done yourself this time!”

The boy grinned, doing a little twirl to show off the shirt he was wearing. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

TJ couldn’t keep from laughing now. “No, no. It’s very enthusiastic! A plain shirt with ‘go sports’ on it. Nice.” 

“Thank you very much.” 

The athlete turned to open the door then, stepping aside to let Cyrus pass. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Cyrus responded, picking up his bag and stepping outside.

He completely missed the way TJ looked after him, an adoring smile on his lips.

 

~

 

Thankfully, the heat wasn’t too severe that afternoon. In fact, the angry grey clouds above them seemed to suggest that a storm could be on its way. A cool breeze had set in by the time they arrived at their local park, and TJ instantly picked up on Cyrus’ shivering.

“Take my hoodie,” he said, already beginning to lift it over his head.

“I’m not cold.” Cyrus insisted.

TJ lifted a disbelieving eyebrow as the boy sat down on a bench, hugging his bag to his chest.

“Sure you aren’t,” he teased, placing his basketball hoodie on the Cyrus’ lap. “I’ll just leave this here. For safe-keeping, y’know?

The boy’s witty response died on his lips when he caught sight of TJ, who was now wearing nothing but a singlet now.  "Um, yeah, sure.” he mumbled.

The athlete looked slightly confused by that, but he shook it off and headed over to the basketball court to warm up.

Cyrus quickly snapped himself out of it - he had seen TJ wearing singlets about a  _million_  times - this time wasn’t any different. He had always known TJ was cute, and it  _still_  wasn’t anything but friendly admiration.

It took about 5 minutes for him to cave and slip on TJ’s basketball hoodie - the wind was becoming a lot more biting, and he rationalised that there was nothing wrong with friends sharing hoodies. Right? 

He began cheering TJ on whenever he got a goal (which seemed to be an alarming majority of the time) and after a few more minutes of waiting, Rafael and Jamie arrived together.

He could feel his heart racing as he approached the pair, the friendliest smile he could muster on his lips.

“Hey!” he greeted.

TJ was by his side a moment later, placing a hand on his shoulder. He felt himself relax almost instantly.

The blonde-haired boy introduced himself first. “Hey - you must be Cyrus! I’m Jamie.” 

He held his hand out then, and Cyrus found himself feeling very grateful that he had mastered the art of a ‘bro-hug’ in middle school.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said as they pulled away.

“I’m Rafael,” the other boy greeted.

He held his arms out for a hug, which Cyrus felt a lot more comfortable with. Rafael was taller than even  _TJ_ , and he was  _much_  taller than both him and Jamie. He had dark hair and his eyes were a light brown.

Cyrus stepped back while TJ talked to the pair, a small smile on his lips as he watched them all laugh (no doubt at one of the athlete’s ridiculous jokes.) 

“You ready to lose, Teej?” Jamie asked suddenly, a challenging smirk on his face.

“Only if you keep up!” the boy responded, turning around and dashing towards the basketball court.

Rafael rolled his eyes fondly as Jamie took off after him, approaching Cyrus with a timid smile. “I guess we should find somewhere to sit and watch, huh?”

“I guess we should,” He agreed.

They made their way over to a nearby bench in relative silence. The silence persisted even after they had sat down, and Cyrus didn’t know how to break it for the life of him. Luckily - he didn’t have to in the end.

“I’m really sorry about Isaac. We both are.” Rafael said quietly.

“It’s fine,” he assured him. “I know it’s hard to get out of something like that.”

The boy gave him a grateful smile, and another silence settled between them as they watched the other two play.

“Hey - do you think we could make flower crowns out of these daisies?” Rafael asked suddenly.

Cyrus scanned the area around them for a moment before nodding. “Yeah! I think we could.” 

That’s how they ended up sitting on the grass together, with Rafael picking daisies and creating careful slits in each one while Cyrus tried his best to weave them all together. They fell into conversation naturally after a few minutes, which the boy was very grateful for.

“Do you play basketball by the way?”

The question caught Cyrus off guard at first - who would direct that at  _him_  of all people - but then he remembered that he was still wearing TJ’s hoodie.

“No,” he laughed. “Not at all. This is TJ’s.”

A smile that he could only describe as knowing came to Rafael’s lips. “Right. Of course.” 

Cyrus didn’t even want to  _begin_  thinking about what that could mean.

“He talks about you all the time, you know?”

His heart skipped a beat at that, and he looked over at the boy in alarm. “He does?” 

Rafael’s smile widened. “Yeah. He cares about you. Like - a lot.”  

Cyrus shifted his gaze to TJ. His hair was wind-swept and his eyes were alight with laughter as he playfully stuck his tongue out at Jamie.

 _Someone obviously just scored,_  he mused.

His smile was soft when he turned his attention to Rafael again. “I care about him a lot too.” 


	7. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus comes to terms with a thing or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Theo (you-get-to-exhale-now-cyrus on tumblr) and Jillian (bittertyrus on tumblr) for reading over this chapter!! I appreciate it a lot <33

It was a normal Sunday evening. Or - it was supposed to be, anyway. The clear sky was slowly fading to dark blue and the street was quiet apart from the soft, consistent hum of nearby crickets. The breeze was cool, but not cool enough for them to need hoodies or jackets. 

Cyrus and TJ were both drawing again, except this time they were on Cyrus’ driveway ( _after_ getting permission from his dad and step-mom, of course.) Apart from TJ reaching over to turn on the lanterns they set up just over an hour ago, there wasn’t much movement from either of them. As the sky darkened, they relied more and more on the lanterns and their soft glow to illuminate the concrete.

Occasionally, he heard TJ humming quietly to himself as he drew, his expression relaxed as he leant over his drawing. He didn’t know why  the soft sounds distracted him so much; all he knew was that he couldn’t keep himself from stealing glances at the boy. These eventually turned into blatant stares, and it didn’t take long for TJ to notice.

“Do you need help?”

Although Cyrus’ confidence had improved when it came to using chalk, he still really wasn’t great by any means, and TJ often had to help him here and there. _It wasn’t a new thing, so why was the idea making him so nervous right now._  

“Uh. Yeah,” he stammered. “If that’s okay.” 

TJ just smiled and moved over to him, scanning over the drawing for a few moments.

“A city landscape. Nice.”

All Cyrus could bring himself to do was nod.

“I’m guessing you need help with the buildings?”

Another meek nod. 

As usual, the boy leant over then, his shoulder pressed to Cyrus’ as he gently guided his hand. For some reason his brain short-circuited, and he completely forgot how to draw - or function normally at that. There was a swarm of nervous butterflies in his stomach, and he couldn’t help but be preoccupied with things he  _really_ shouldn’t have been preoccupied with.

Instead of paying attention to where TJ was guiding his hand, he couldn’t stop thinking about how close they were - how comforting it felt to be pressed up against the boy and how warm and solid he was. It was a dizzying feeling that took Cyrus completely by surprise.

When he should’ve been listening to TJ’s murmured instructions, telling him all about ‘vanishing points’ and tricks to draw straight lines without a ruler, he was focusing on how close their faces were at that point. That lead him down a very dangerous train of thought where he realised just how easy it would be to tilt his head slightly and -  _no_. Absolutely  _not_.

He spent most of TJ’s explanation sneaking furtive glances at the boy, realising how cute he looked at that moment with glasses instead of contacts, how soft his hair looked without gel, how inviting those lips looked, how-

“Think you can do that?”

Cyrus hastily tore his eyes away from TJ’s lips, looking back down at the drawing with a completely blank expression. “Uh...yeah?”

And honestly - he still stood by the idea that soft smiles from TJ Kippen should very much be illegal, because his heart  _swooped_ the moment one appeared on the boy’s lips.

_Oh god,_  he thought.  _This really wasn’t sounding like ‘friendly admiration.’ In fact, it was sounding more like a crush. A severe crush, at that._

“What do you remember from I what I just told you?” TJ asked, a teasing lilt in his voice.

“Um...” Cyrus stalled, desperately trying to recall a few key words. “Vanishing points!”

TJ smiled fondly at that, pressing even closer to the boy so he could guide his hand to the smallest building. “Okay - lets start again. Think you can listen this time?”

_He_ had  _to know what he was doing right now, Cyrus thought desperately._

“Yeah,” he responded, and if that wasn’t the biggest lie he’s ever told, he didn’t know what was.

He could already tell that this was going to be the death of him.

 

~

 

There was something about TJ that always made Cyrus feel giddy.

He couldn’t really explain the spark that had been from the moment they met; he just knew it was there, underlying all of their interactions, and that it continually seemed to pull Cyrus towards the boy. TJ’s ability to take him away from reality even for a few moments was unparalleled, and the idea of that terrified him.

Sometimes he found himself wondering if TJ felt it too. 

5 weeks had passed now, and somehow Cyrus never grew tired of spending so many days with the boy. TJ still seemed to want to hang out with him, which had to mean  _something_. Right? 

He was very kindly pulled out his thoughts by a pillow to the face.

“Hey,” he laughed, sending the pillow right back at Buffy. “Rude!”

“We needed to get you out of your daze  _somehow_.” Andi said.

“I think a gentle ‘Hey, Cyrus’ would’ve achieved the same thing!” 

Buffy just raised an amused eyebrow at that, launching another pillow at him

“Okay,  _okay_ ,” Andi intervened, grabbing the pillow away from Cyrus before he could throw it back. “This is no time for a pillow fight, guys. We’re doing dramatic readings of bad horror stories, remember?”

Buffy scoffed. “I don’t know.  _I’m_ pretty interested to know what was distracting Cyrus so much, personally.” 

 

Cyrus laughed nervously at that.

It was Tuesday evening and both girls were over at his place for a sleepover. 

He had honestly been planning on spilling his newfound crush to them, but he couldn’t stop second-guessing himself. Although they both seemed to be getting along relatively well with TJ now, who said that they would be okay with Cyrus actually  _liking_ him.

“I was thinking about how great baby taters sound for tomorrow! What do you guys think of a trip to the spoon?”

There was a knowing smile on Andi’s lips as she put down her phone, abandoning the horror stories completely. "Actually...now that you mention it, Buffy-“

“Hey - how’s Amber going, Andi?” Cyrus tried.

The girl’s face instantly lit up at that. She was clearly about to go on another Amber-themed tangent, but Buffy cut her off with a look.

“So you’re bringing up Andi’s crush to avoid talking about  _your_ new one?”

“My  _what?_ ” he spluttered.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but there was an obvious smile tugging at her lips. “Cyrus. The only time I’ve seen that face before is when you used to think about  _Jonah_. That can literally only mean one thing.”

“That you must have a scarily good memory?”

“No! I mean - I  _do_ have a good memory, but  _you_ have a new crush, Cyrus!”

Cyrus could feel his face reddening, and he silently cursed the fact that he blushed so easily. 

Andi picked up on it almost instantly. “Oh my god - you  _do!_ Spill - who is he? Do we know him?” 

“Well...” he trailed off, shifting uneasily. “About that...”

Buffy quirked an eyebrow. “So we  _do_ know him?” 

“...Kind of? I mean - yeah, you do. But-“

“It’s not Jonah again, is it?” Andi asked.

“No way. He’s nice and all, but...yeah. No.”

Buffy fell silent for a moment, clearly running through every boy she knew in her head. Andi seemed to be doing the same, and Cyrus could feel a whole swarm of butterflies in his stomach now.

He knew he was screwed when realisation swept over Buffy’s face.

“Cyrus...do you like  _TJ?_ ”

Cyrus ducked his head guiltily, and Andi let out a small gasp.

“You  _do?_ ”

“I swear I didn’t mean to!” he defended. “It just happened...it’s  _his_ fault if you think about, for being so stupidly _nice_ to me all the time.”

Buffy seemed to soften at that, moving forward to take Cyrus’ hands in hers. The boy hesitantly looked up again.

“Cyrus. It’s okay. Neither of us are mad. I mean - I’m really not sure why him of all people, but...” she sighed heavily. “Even I can’t deny that he makes you happy.”

He immediately relaxed at that, giving both girls a small smile.

“He  _is_ getting one hell of a protective friend speech, though,” Andi added, sending Buffy a knowing glance.

Cyrus just scoffed. “That won’t be necessary. I’m never telling him.” 

Buffy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “ _What?_ ”

“He’s straight!” 

Andi shrugged. “I don’t know, I got a bit of a gay vibe.” 

Cyrus was genuinely at a loss as to how anyone could get gay vibes from  _TJ._

He lifted a disbelieving eyebrow at her. “Really? You got gay vibes from him during your _three_ interactions with him at school?”

“Hey - I went dirt-biking with him last week!”

“You  _what?_ ” 

Buffy scoffed slightly as she reached over to take Andi’s phone. “Okay. How about we go back to reading horror stories?”

“Yeah. Please.” 

Cyrus’ newfound feelings weren’t brought up again after that. They ended up spending a few minutes raiding Cyrus’ room for wigs and other miscellaneous props to help them in their acting, before choosing stories and assigning characters.

They quickly discovered that dramatic re-enactments of bad horror stories could only go on for so long before they became tiring, and an hour had crept by when they finally decided to call it quits.

The doorbell chimed just as Andi was suggesting they binge-watch a Netflix show, and Cyrus didn’t miss the way Buffy’s eyes immediately widened in alarm. He had the sneaking suspicion that she might’ve been connected somehow, but he decided against saying anything. Instead - he just got up and rushed downstairs. 

As he had suspected, Marty was grinning at him when he opened the door a few moments later.

“Hey Cyrus,” he greeted casually.

“Hey Marty. I uh - wasn’t expecting to see you tonight!” 

“I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight either, but news has it that you have a crush on TJ now?”

Cyrus let out a small, disbelieving laugh.  _He hadn’t even seen Buffy pick up her phone. How on earth was that possible?_

“Word travels fast then,” he remarked, stepping aside to let the boy in.

Usually, his parents wouldn’t have allowed him to have Marty over on such short notice, but he was home alone on that night so he could make an exception.

Buffy’s eyes widened again when she saw Marty walk in after Cyrus. “What are you  _doing_ here?” she demanded.

“I had to come over! Cyrus hasn’t had a crush on anyone since  _middle school!_  Besides, I obviously need to help him ask TJ out.” 

Cyrus snorted as he sat down next to Andi on the bed, leaning his head on her shoulder. "TJ’s straighter than you, Marty. And  _that’s_ saying something.”

Marty settled down next to Buffy, shooting Cyrus a disbelieving look. “Are you kidding me? TJ gives off major gay vibes.”

Andi couldn’t help but grin at that. “See? I’m not the only one who senses it.”

“What  _is_ it with you people and thinking TJ gives off gay vibes?” Cyrus asked. “If we’re talking about vibes, you should see the ‘straight ally’ vibes he gives off.  _Seriously_.” 

“I mean...he lives right next door. Why don’t we just yell out the window and ask him?” Buffy suggested.

Marty snorted. “That’ll go well. We could ask the whole neighbourhood if they’re gay while we’re at it.” 

Cyrus groaned dramatically at that, flopping back on the bed. “Guys. He’s  _so_ cute. Who gave straight guys the right to be cute?”

Andi laughed slightly at that, flopping down on the bed next to him. “Who gave gay girls the right to be cute? Did you guys  _see_ that picture Amber posted to her Instagram yesterday?” 

Buffy and Marty exchanged an exasperated look at that. They were officially going to have to deal with  _twice_ the pining now.

 

~

 

Sometimes when Cyrus was feeling hopeful, he couldn’t help but think his interactions with TJ were becoming somewhat  _flirty_.

He knew the idea was bizarre, but there were a few undeniable moments where everything seemed to fade around them, and his breath would catch, and their staring would last a moment too long to be friendly.

At first he thought he had been imagining TJ’s furtive glances, or the way his lips twitched up in what seemed to be small, private smiles directed at him. The more time they spent together though, the more moments he had to go home with and think about all night.

He didn’t dare mention any of this to his friends, because they would all tell him  _exactly_ what he wanted to hear; that despite seeming like the straightest guy on planet earth, TJ somehow liked him back. That TJ had the same urges to close the gap between them when they were close, that TJ  _also_  spent his nights wondering what it would be like to kiss Cyrus.

When he really thought about it, these ideas were comically far-fetched, so he kept all of them locked away as much as humanely possible.

On one particularly restless night, he couldn’t keep himself from going over a few of these moments in his head. He had tried just about everything to fall asleep, and he ended up resigning to the fact that he’d be a tired mess the following day.

“I’m warning you one last time that my athletic abilities are shocking. This is your last chance to turn back, TJ.”

TJ turned to him with one of those bright smiles, his eyes sparkling with their usual playfulness as he took the basketball out of Cyrus’ hands.

“The point of this is that I’m  _teaching_ you how to score a basket. I’m not expecting you to be perfect right away.”

“Okay.” he responded, and  _really_ \- sue him if he was slightly distracted by the way the sun was currently tinging TJ’s hair gold. It looked far too ethereal to be allowed.

The athlete stopped in front of the basket and gestured for Cyrus come over, that bright smile still on his lips. He did just that, all while desperately telling himself that he wouldn’t allow TJ being in close proximity to distract him this time. Absolutely not.

“Okay, so you’ll wanna hold the ball like this-“ TJ murmured, and  _dammit_ \- Cyrus was beginning to think that low tone would be the genuine death of him.

“Now, just move your feet apart slightly...yup! That’s great.”

TJ was standing a little bit to the side now, his hands holding the basketball over Cyrus’. His touches deliberately seemed to linger after each instruction, and Cyrus was beginning to feel slightly weak at the knees. 

“So when you actually shoot, you’ll wanna position your elbow so it’s under the ball, like this-“

TJ shifted slightly so he could gently raise his arm, and the new position only seemed to bring him  _closer_ to Cyrus. 

“When you shoot, you’ll also wanna jump forward slightly, and push the ball upward with your shooting hand - this one - yup! Like that.” 

He didn’t dare tilt his head then. The boy was ridiculously close now - so close in fact that Cyrus could feel TJ’s warm breath ghosting over his skin. He honestly  _tried_ not to shiver, but he couldn’t help it. TJ noticed it if the way he immediately faltered was any indicator.

“And then - um, you’ll wanna...uh - follow through! That’s what you wanna do. Follow through.” 

He stepped away then, and the moment ended as quickly as it had started.

 

_Then_ \- _there_ _had_ _been_ _that_ _interesting_ _afternoon_ _at_ _TJ’s_ _house_.

 

Cyrus and TJ were sprawled across the couch, with TJ’s leg casually kicked over the side and Cyrus’ arm draped dramatically over his own face.

Despite the pair of fans they had set up on the coffee table, the heat was almost unbearable, and doing anything apart from lounging around seemed like an effort.

A comfortable silence had settled around them, which was why Cyrus was so shocked at TJ’s sudden words.

“Do you ever feel weird?” 

Surprised laughter escaped Cyrus’ lips, and he propped himself up onto his elbows to give the boy a bewildered look. “Are you  _really_ quoting Love, Simon right now?”

“Maybe,” he responded with a teasing grin.

Cyrus found himself laughing harder at that for some reason; he couldn’t help but think that the heat was getting to him, because it really hadn’t even been that funny.

TJ’s grin faded into something fonder as he watched the boy, and Cyrus eventually calmed down enough to give him a puzzled look.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” he assured with a smile, bashfully averting his gaze.

Cyrus didn’t press any further.

 

_And_ _then_ \- _that_ _moment_ _from_ _two_ _days_ _ago_ , _where_ _he_ _had_ _inquired_ _about_ _TJ’s_ _recent_ _shift_ _towards_ _using_ _no_ _hair_ _gel_. And _wearing_ _glasses_ _instead_ _of_ _contacts_.

 

Cyrus was subtly observing the boy across from him as he read one of their assigned school books. It wasn’t an overly interesting book, if the way TJ’s eyes kept wandering was any indicator. 

He honestly tried to keep his gaze on his own book, but it was proving difficult when the cutest boy on the planet was sitting right across from him.

Okay - maybe not the  _absolute_ cutest (although Cyrus really did beg to differ), but TJ’s hair was gel-free at that moment and there was an adorable pair of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Two of Cyrus’ total weaknesses when it came to TJ.

It was almost as if the boy knew what he was doing. But he didn’t.  _Did he?_

“Hey,” he said quietly.

The athlete looked up with a smile, seeming pleased at the distraction. “What’s up?”

“Is there a reason you’ve switched up your look a bit recently or is it just...’cause?”

TJ’s eyes widened at that, and he hastily looked back down at his book.

“Um,” he began, clearing his throat. “I uh...just wanted to try something new.”

He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, but nodded all the same and returned to his book.

_If TJ’s goal was to seem suspicious, he had certainly accomplished it,_  Cyrus mused.

 

He groaned dramatically into his pillow - something he had found himself doing an awful lot recently.

_Was he just over-analysing, or was there a tiny chance that TJ could like him back?_

He let out an exasperated sigh.

_Stupid boys._


	8. Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ has some news, Cyrus isn't the biggest fan of camping and there's flirting. A lot of it.

“My dad got confirmed for a new job.”

The words caught Cyrus off guard at first; it was late afternoon and they had both been drawing in relative silence for about 10 minutes. Nonetheless, a wide smile came to his lips.

“TJ - that’s great!

“It is!” the boy said, returning his smile. “And it means that our camping trip this year isn’t cancelled after all.” 

“That’s also great!”

TJ nodded, but he was beginning to seem hesitant. He wouldn’t meet Cyrus’ eye now, averting his gaze to their chalk drawings instead.

“I uh...was actually going to ask if you wanted to come with us? Maybe?”

Cyrus’ eyebrows furrowed. “You mean...go  _camping_  with you guys?”

“Yeah.”

“Um...”

Cyrus had very mixed feelings about camping. He had tolerated powered sites in the past, where his phone could be charged, but what if TJ was talking about an  _unpowered_  site? How could he possibly take nice photos of the scenery? ( _Or_  message his friends... _or_  check his twitter feed.) The thought alone made him shudder.

He opened his mouth to say something along these lines, but TJ beat him to it.

“It’s a powered site!” 

Cyrus laughed slightly. “That’s good, but...I wouldn’t want to be a burden-“

“You won’t be,” TJ assured, handing him an orange chalk for his sunset. “My parents really don’t mind - they  _want_  you to come if anything.“

The more Cyrus thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea. Usually, he despised everything about camping, but camping with  _TJ_  was a whole other matter.  _That_ could actually be fun.

“Then...sure! I’d have to ask my parents though.”

The smile TJ gave him then was blinding, and it almost made up for the uncomfortable aspects of camping in advance.  _Almost_.

“Great!”

Cyrus couldn’t help but notice that TJ  _still_  looked as though he wanted to say something more. He lifted a curious eyebrow.

“What is it?” 

The boy smiled bashfully at that, focusing back on his drawings as if he had been exposed somehow. “Well...I was kind of wondering if I could draw you again?”

Cyrus felt his heart swoop. “Oh! But...why?”

“I was hoping for something a bit more permanent this time,” TJ explained, placing his chalk down and grabbing the large sketch-pad beside him.

“So  _that’s_  why you brought that out with you!”

The athlete laughed. “Yeah, you got me.”

There was a fond smile on Cyrus’ lips as he placed his chalk down and shuffled around to face the boy, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his hands. “Well...I don’t mind modelling again.”

If TJ seemed slightly flustered as he set up his sketch pad, Cyrus pretended not to notice.

The athlete questioned him about his favourite movies this time as he drew, glancing up with a fond smile whenever Cyrus said something particularly endearing. 

Time crept by after that, and about 45 minutes later when the sun was beginning to set, Cyrus was looking down at the sketch of himself in awe. He slowly lifted his head to look at TJ, a disbelieving look on his face.

“I think there’s been a mistake,” he insisted jokingly. “I look  _cute_  in this.”

TJ frowned slightly, shuffling over to the boy and placing a gentle hand on his arm. “That’s probably because you  _are_.”

Forget swooping; Cyrus’ heart  _soared_  at that.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, smiling shyly down at his lap.

 

~

 

Cyrus’ dad and step-mom ended up agreeing to the camping trip on the condition that they could both meet with TJ’s parents beforehand. 

This was why they were all downstairs on one particular Sunday afternoon, going over a few final details of the trip while TJ was up in Cyrus’ room watching him pack.

“You’re bringing a polaroid camera?”

The shorter boy glanced over at him with a teasing smile. “How else will I be able to take nice candids of you?”

TJ snorted. “I can guarantee you I won’t be nearly as nice-looking as all of the scenery there.”

That  _had_  to be up there with some of the most untrue things Cyrus had ever heard, but he decided against voicing that thought.

“Oh please,” he responded, carefully placing the camera in its case. “The scenery will be  _wishing_  it could be you.”

In hindsight he really shouldn’t have made the words sound so flirty, but TJ didn’t seem to mind if the grin on his lips was anything to go by.

“I don’t think that’s possible, but I’ll take it. Have you got pyjamas in there by the way?”

Cyrus’ eye’s widened. “No!  _And_  I don’t have spare pairs of socks! You’re a life-saver, TJ Kippen.”  

The athlete smiled fondly as he watched the boy rush over to his draws, throwing one open and sifting through the clothes inside. After a minute or two, he was walking back over to his suitcase with an armful of pyjamas and socks.

TJ couldn’t help but laugh slightly when Cyrus began packing. “You’re so neat about it. My idea of packing is throwing things into a suitcase and being done with it.” 

“I’m really not surprised,” Cyrus sighed, smiling slightly at the boy’s offended look. “It’s very...you.”

“...Okay, you know what? I’m gonna go pack my things neatly. I bet I could do it quicker than you, too.” 

Cyrus grinned. In some ways, TJ reminded him of Buffy with his competitiveness. In other ways though, he didn’t. When it came to competitions between them specifically, there always something there that Cyrus couldn’t quite explain. It was like their playful exchanges and teasing smiles were all building towards something inevitable.

“Sure, TJ. I just hope you know that I have the biggest head-start in the world.”

“We’ll see,” the boy told him, shooting him a smile as he stood up and headed over to the door.

“We will!”

 

~

 

Cyrus was struck with the realisation that his friends had no idea about this trip when he was almost done with his packing 10 minutes later.

The things they would inevitably say about him and TJ were giving him a headache in  _advance_ , but he knew that he should probably message them.

 

**the ghc + jonah and marty**

**Cyrus:** I’m going somewhere guys. I may not have signal for a while. Please never forget that I love you all.

 **Jonah:** wait what?? what’s going on dude?

 **Buffy:**  this is another camping trip, isn’t it? u drama queen

 **Cyrus:**  spoil sport :(

 **Buffy:** that’s me! anyway, why are your parents taking you on another one? i thought it was only once per year?

 **Cyrus:** welllllll

 **Cyrus:** about that

 **Buffy:**  ...go on

 **Cyrus:**  TJ kinda invited me to go camping w/ his family? for 3 days?

 **Marty:** HELLO i am HERE and READY to give dating advice

 **Buffy:**  Marty istg, TJ’s family is literally gonna be there

 **Jonah:**  whoa whoa whoa, hang on a sec. are you and TJ close now? why is he inviting u camping? 

 **Andi:**  Hello i’m also here now to say that Cyrus and TJ are more than just close friends, Jonah ;-)

 **Cyrus:** ANDI

 **Andi:**  CYRUS

 **Buffy:**  this group chat is a whole mess

 **Jonah:** WHAT

 **Jonah:**  SINCE WHEN???

 **Cyrus:**  NO WE’RE JUST FRIENDS DON’T LISTEN TO ANDI

 

By the time Cyrus had finished dealing with Jonah’s cluelessness, Marty’s ‘dating advice’ and Buffy’s exasperation with everyone, TJ was walking back into his room with a smug smile.

_Oh man. He totally forgot to finish his packing._

He casually shifted to hide the unpacked pile of clothes, but it was too late. TJ was grinning triumphantly now.

“What happened to that head start?” he teased.

Cyrus rolled his eyes. “Well, what happened to that - um - yeah...I’ve got nothing.” 

This only served to make the grin on TJ’s lips wider as he sat down.

“Just accept it, Cy. You may be better than me at Mario kart - well, even that’s debatable-“

“No it isn’t!”

“-but you aren’t better than me at packing.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Cyrus huffed, tossing a teddy bear at the boy.

TJ caught the bear with a fond smile. “I know.”

 

~

 

Cyrus hadn’t even  _thought_  about the car seating arrangements when he first agreed to the camping trip, but now that he was pressed up against TJ and Amber in the back seat, he was wondering if he would even make it to the campsite.

Naturally, he gravitated towards TJ (purely because he knew him better), which resulted in a small gap between him and Amber. Meanwhile, the space between him and TJ was pretty much non-existent. 

He could already feel his traitorous heart racing. 

“Do we  _have_  to listen to TJ’s old CD’s?” Amber groaned, sending the boy a playful smirk when he huffed.

“You can have the aux cord in half an hour, Ambs,” Mr.Kippen responded.

She fell back against her seat with a sigh. TJ gave her a smug look, while Cyrus stayed safely out of the sibling drama by returning to his phone.

“Whatcha doin’?” TJ asked him, and  _dammit_  - there was that low tone again. Just like last time, it was right by his ear too.

“Um...” 

 

_What was this app called again?_

 

“Oh, right - I’m playing Cookie Jam.”

TJ laughed slightly. “That sounds like a Candy Crush rip-off.”

“It is,” Cyrus admitted, shooting him a smile. “I was going to play Candy Crush but that’s too mainstream.”

“Gotcha.”

Silence settled again, and TJ reverted to watching him play over his shoulder. Cyrus didn’t think he had ever screwed up so much in his life.

“I’m - uh - usually better than this. I swear.” 

“I’m sure you are,” TJ teased

Amber scoffed at that, and the athlete directed a glare at her. An evil smirk slowly made made its way onto his lips. “Hey - who are you texting, Ambs? That smile seemed pretty big just now.”

That piqued Cyrus’ interest. He looked between the pair while they exchanged death glares, his eyes wide. Amber was blushing crimson by now.

“No one,  _TJ_.” 

She closed the messages she had open on her phone, pointedly opening twitter instead.

_Well that was interesting. Amber’s crush seemed to be a girl that she messaged frequently. Although - that really didn’t narrow down the options._

He made a mental note to ask Andi how often she texts with Amber.

Cyrus was able to entertain himself with the games on his phone for the next few hours, and he had honestly grown used to the idea that TJ was glancing over to watch him play from time to time.

About half-way through the trip, he felt TJ’s head fall gently onto his shoulder.

For a moment he was completely frozen, thinking that the boy had done it consciously, but when he looked over he found that TJ had fallen asleep.

 

_Great._

 

He shifted slightly to get comfortable, trying his very hardest to ignore the butterflies that were currently in his stomach.

He couldn’t help but sneak glances at the boy every once in a while. His eyelids were closed gently, and all of the tension he normally held seemed to have vanished. His hair was gel-free (this had become the norm for him recently, much to Cyrus’ dismay), and it was flattened against his forehead in a way that was far too endearing to be allowed.

Cyrus didn’t think he had ever seen anything so adorable, but then again he might’ve been biased.

His glances eventually seemed to turn into stares, because soon enough Amber was pointedly clearing her throat. Cyrus quickly tore his gaze away from TJ and looked over at her with an embarrassed smile.

He  _really_  didn’t want to know what the teasing smirk on her lips meant.

 

~

 

“TJ,” he whispered, running a hesitant hand through the boy’s hair. 

TJ groaned and shifted slightly, snuggling into Cyrus’ shoulder. His heart very nearly stopped at that.

“TJ,” he whispered again, raising his voice slightly.

“Huh?” 

The boy’s eyes fluttered open, and he groggily took in his surroundings. When he realised what he was leaning on, he immediately jolted awake.

“I’m so sorry! Oh my god-“

“TJ,” he laughed. “It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

TJ nodded slowly, turning to look out the window. “Okay...are we here?”

“Yeah. Your parents are already unpacking a few things.”

“Meanwhile,  _I_  got to witness TJ Kippen being embarrassed!” Amber sang, opening the door with a smug smile and stepping outside.

“Siblings,” TJ huffed, rolling his eyes as he opened his own door.

They stepped out into a grass clearing, surrounded by a dense forest with dark, towering trees. A dirt track connected them to other clearings - presumably where other campers were - and there was a power outlet right by their car. The sun was already beginning to set, which had painted the clear sky a light pink.

“Whoa,” Cyrus breathed. “How tall do you think those trees are?”

“They’ve gotta be at  _least_  a metre.” 

 _That_ earnt him a playful shove.

“It’s getting dark, boys! Are you alright to set up your own tent?” 

They both turned around to find Mr. Kippen holding out a large bag. TJ stepped forward with a confident smile and took the bag. “We’ll be fine.”

“That’s debatable,” Cyrus smiled.

“Pft, no it’s not,” TJ argued, turning around to march over to a patch of grass. “You know what they call me around these parts?”

“I don’t know TJ. What  _do_  they call you around these parts?”

“The tent-setting pro.”

Cyrus looked after him incredulously for a moment, before shaking his head and moving over to where he was stood.

He watched with a fond smile as the boy tipped the contents from the bag onto the grass. 

“Okay tent pro, what’s the first step?”

“I’m glad you asked! I think we grab this-“ he bent down and picked up the collapsed tent. “Then we both take a corner, and it should unfold!”

Cyrus nodded and moved forward to take a corner.

 

_This should go well._

 

With a few glances at what the others were doing (that TJ would vehemently deny if you ever asked him) they were able to successfully set up the tent. The sun had set fully by the time they were done, and stars were beginning to dot they sky above them. A cool breeze had also set in as a result, and Cyrus found himself feeling very thankful for his warm (slightly ridiculous-looking) coat. Even if it  _did_  make him look somewhat like a marshmallow.

While TJ was hammering in a few final attachments for the rain cover, Mrs. Kippen approached him with a bright smile.

“You boys are going well, I see.”

“We got there,” Cyrus responded with a laugh.

There was a momentary pause as they watched TJ fumble with the cover.

“You know...these trips are usually family-only, but ever since you two became friends he’s always so excited to be around you. We couldn’t say no when he asked,” she paused for a moment, before adding “I’m glad he has someone like you.” 

Cyrus looked down with a shy smile. “I’m glad we’re friends,” he told her honestly, “he’s a good person.”

“When he wants to be,” Mrs. Kippen added.

They both laughed at that, which earnt them a suspicious glare from TJ. “You two better not be talking about me!”

“ _Talking_  about you?” Cyrus asked him, moving forward to help the struggling boy. “You wound me, TJ Kippen.” 

 

~

 

Canoeing. 

It was something that Cyrus had grown to dread over the years, and for good reason. He wasn’t overly athletic, and his arms would begin burning about 2 seconds into paddling. He also had an unfortunate history of dropping the paddle into the water (he could safely place the blame on Jonah for one of those times, because the boy had made him laugh so hard he was practically wheezing.) And  _really_  - sue him for thinking that canoeing became tedious after a while. 

Amber had insisted on a single-person canoe for herself (Cyrus couldn’t help but think there was an ulterior motive there, but he didn’t question it), which left him and TJ with a two-person canoe.

Admittedly, the lake they were at was beautiful, and the surrounding scenery was even more beautiful, but he really couldn’t concentrate on that when he was currently climbing into a canoe with TJ. His  _crush_  - as his brain had reminded him multiple times already.

“You’re smaller, so you should probably go in the front.” 

He gave a quick nod, before carefully stepping into the canoe. TJ had his arms out, seemingly ready to catch him in case he fell.

“You don’t trust me?” he teased.

“Of course I do! I’m just being a good friend.”

He rolled his eyes at that. Embarrassingly enough, he  _did_  end up losing his balance slightly as he went to sit down, and he ended up grabbing onto TJ’s hand to steady himself.

“I did that on purpose,” he insisted, quickly sitting down before he could embarrass himself further.

“Did what on purpose?” TJ smiled, climbing in after him. 

Cyrus couldn’t help but return the smile.

Once they were safely inside the canoe, Mr. Kippen gave him a push and they were on their way. Kind of.

“I hope you know that you’re about 10 times stronger than me,” He said, glancing back at the boy.

“Psh, I bet that’s not true. But...I’ll go lightly, okay?”

Eventually, after a few near paddle drops on Cyrus’ end, they were able to make their paddling relatively synchronised. TJ managed to accommodate for his lack of strength, and they were able to pick up their speed.

“This is actually kinda fun!” he called, and it was true. As it turns out - going at a comfortable pace helped in the non-existent strength department, and the surrounding area really  _was_  beautiful now that he was paying more attention. All of the colours around them were vibrant in a way that was rare where they lived. The lake was one of the bluest lakes he had seen in a while, and the surrounding forest was a sea of dark green pine trees.

“Cyrus Goodman? Having  _fun_  while  _canoeing_? What universe  _is_  this?”

The responding laughter brought a fond smile to TJ’s lips that Cyrus missed completely.

“Do you wanna stop for a second?” the other boy asked suddenly. 

Cyrus nodded, carefully lifting his paddle out of the water and manoeuvring himself so that he was faced TJ. The canoe came to a stop, rocking gently as the athlete lifted his own paddle out of the water. 

“Hi.” 

The athlete grinned. “Hey. How’s it going?”

“Not bad. Tell me - how strong are your drawing urges right now?” 

“So strong.” he responded, keeping his gaze firmly on Cyrus.

Cyrus’ stomach swooped at that, and he ducked his head to conceal the blush he just  _knew_  was on his face. “The scenery  _does_  look pretty nice.” he mumbled.

“ _You_  look pretty nice.”

He couldn’t help but look up then, his eyes widened in alarm. 

“I mean - uh - you  _are_  pretty nice. You’re a nice person.” TJ stuttered.

“That’s not what you meant!” Cyrus laughed.

“Hey - you know what we should do? Start canoeing again!” The boy announced, grabbing his paddle.

Cyrus gave him an incredulous look, but he turned back around with an amused smile nonetheless.

“You’re a liar, TJ Kippen.”

“And what about it, Cyrus Goodman?"

 

 _That_  earnt him another disbelieving look.

 

~

 

That afternoon found them scavenging the forest for sticks. Although - Cyrus used the term ‘them’ lightly, because it was really just  _him_  doing the stick collecting. 

“You know, we’d probably have enough sticks by now if you weren’t stopping every two seconds to take photos of the animals!” he called over his shoulder.

TJ huffed. “Oh come  _on_ , you’re the photographer here, aren’t  _you_  supposed to be excited about all these photo opportunities?”

“We promised your parents we’d be back soon with sticks!” 

“We’ve only been out for 20 minutes!”

“Yeah - that definitely counts as ‘ _soon!_ ’”

All he heard was the sound of footsteps after that, so he turned around with an exasperated sigh. “Come on, let’s - oh...” 

TJ was close now.  _Far_  closer than he had sounded a few moments ago. The look he was giving him now was heart-melting to say the least, and Cyrus very nearly forgot why they were out there in the first place.

Neither of them spoke for a few long moments, and the silence seemed to make him about ten times more aware of the all the sounds coming from the forest.

“We should uh...get a few more sticks so we can head back.” He murmured, not moving at all.

“Yeah.” TJ agreed, and there was that  _damn_  low tone again.

They lingered for a moment longer, reluctant to tear their gazes from one another, but TJ eventually stepped back with a teasing smile.

“Let’s go then, shall we?” 

Cyrus looked after the boy as he walked away, his expression disbelieving.

 _That jerk had to know what he was doing_.

 

~

 

There were lots of things that Cyrus despised about camping. The insects, the terrifying animals, the air mattresses, the communal bathroom blocks, the total lack of privacy  _and_  the dirt, which seemed to get all over his clothes no matter how hard he tried.

However, there were also things he liked about this camping trip in particular, and they could all be traced back to a certain basketball-playing, chalk-loving boy.

As he discovered later on that night around the campfire, TJ’s family were all fun people to be around. Mr. Kippen played the guitar and he had no issue with initiating sing-alongs despite his very questionable singing abilities. Mrs. Kippen had no problem with joining in on these sing-alongs, and she was nothing but kind and accommodating towards Cyrus. Amber was...well, she was Amber. Kind, funny and  _very_  sarcastic; especially when it came to her brother.

Eventually, when the sun had well and truly set, they stopped adding sticks to the fire so that it could burn out. Amber very pointedly told her parents that they should probably retire for the night, which left Cyrus and TJ alone by the dwindling fire.

The glow it was casting only served to soften TJ’s features and make him look even  _more_  stunning than he was normally. Cyrus was trying very hard to concentrate on what he was saying, rather than how adorable he looked in this lighting with his soft hair and his oversized jacket and-

“Cy? Are you okay?”

He scolded himself for becoming distracted once again.

“Yeah! I’m fine. What were you saying?”

TJ smiled. “I was saying that you did well today. With the canoeing.”

“You don’t have to spare my feelings,” Cyrus told him with a slight laugh.

“I’m not though! You really  _did_  do well. I could tell you were nervous beforehand, so...I just thought I’d let you know.” 

The boy just smiled, lowering his head slightly to conceal the blush he could already feel on his face.

Cyrus had no idea what possessed him to shuffle over and rest his head on TJ’s shoulder, but he did, and the athlete didn’t seem to object. In fact - all he did was snake an arm around Cyrus’ waist.

They were both looking at the glowing remains of the fire now, too afraid to break what was seemingly a fragile moment. Even the  _forest_  seemed quieter than usual, as if it was sensing their tentativeness.

“I’m glad you moved in next to me,” he said after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper.

TJ gently pulled him closer, tracing small circles on the sleeve of Cyrus’ shirt. “Me too.”

 

~

 

Cyrus had always appreciated nature. Although he usually showed his appreciation by scrolling through pictures of sunsets and forests for hours on end, he decided the following day that being in it - experiencing it up close - was significantly better.

They were in a grass clearing, but the whole area  _still_  seemed alive with colours and noises.

TJ was sat on the rock beside him, humming quietly to himself as he took in their surroundings. Cyrus did his very best to savour everything he could. The sounds of rushing water from the stream in front of them, the persistent chirping of nearby birds, the gentle rustling of leaves as the wind ghosted past them. Although it was a ridiculously hot day, the large tree above them made it tolerable by providing some shade.

He almost didn’t hear TJ’s words when the boy spoke.

“It’s a nice day.”

Cyrus couldn’t help but think that was an unusual way for him to start a conversation, but he responded nonetheless.

“It is.”

The athlete’s eyebrows were furrowed now, and he was staring blankly at the rock he had been tossing from hand to hand. His humming had stopped a few minutes ago, and Cyrus was beginning to grow slightly worried.

“Is something wrong?” he asked quietly, turning to face him.

“No,” TJ responded, finally looking up again. “At least...I don’t think there is.”

“But it’s bothering you anyway?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “It is.”

TJ fell silent for a moment, then to Cyrus’ surprise he began to laugh.

“You’ve already assumed the therapist position.”

“I’ve already assumed the  _what?”_

“Whenever you’re ready to listen to people’s problems, you sit like that,” he explained, gesturing to Cyrus, “without fail.” 

Cyrus looked down with a slight laugh. Without realising, he had leant forward and crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee. Maybe he  _did_  have a therapist position. 

“Okay, listen - we’re talking about  _you_  here! Not me.”

TJ averted his gaze with a sigh, throwing the rock he was holding into the stream. “I’m scared you’ll think I’m overreacting.”

Cyrus frowned slightly. “You don’t have to be,” he said gently. “I promise.”

TJ fell silent again for a moment, his gaze still trained on the space in front of them. “Okay,” he relented. “Basically...I think Isaac’s trying to be nice.”

Cyrus barely contained a scoff at that.  _Isaac? Being nice?_

Despite his slight disbelief, his voice was still soft when he responded. “What makes you say that?”

“Well...for starters, he commented that he was proud on Rafael’s coming out post. Then he sent all of us a message apologising for some of the things he did.”

“That’s...interesting.”

“Yeah,” TJ breathed, leaning over to pick up another rock. “He even asked me for your number.”

“Whoa. What’d you say?”

“I told him to go to hell.” 

Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks for that. But...is this what’s bothering you?”

TJ threw another rock, clearly mulling the idea over in his head. "It’s just...what if I was wrong about him? What if he’s actually alright? I don’t want people to think I ditched him for no reason.” 

“TJ,” Cyrus began, standing up and moving over to him. “Do you  _want_  to be friends with Isaac? Even if it turns out he isn’t so bad?”

The answer was instantaneous.

“No.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” 

He sat down next to the boy, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “Let people think what they want to - your reasons for ditching Isaac are still valid no matter what kind of person he’s trying to be right now.”

TJ hesitantly shifted his gaze to Cyrus again, nodding slowly. He didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’d make a great therapist?”

The boy laughed. “Yeah. A few people.”

TJ didn’t move away after that, so Cyrus didn’t either. This left them pressed close together on the same rock, looking out at the scenery in comfortable silence.

Cyrus tried to ignore all of the butterflies in his stomach, and deep down he wondered if TJ was doing the same.


	9. Avoidance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umm...stuff happens

It was around midnight when Cyrus’ eyes fluttered open. He remained still for a few long moments, listening out for the noises that had woken him up in the first place. The sounds of zipping were unmistakable, and he knew then that TJ was leaving the tent.

He remained there while the boy stepped out, zipping the tent back up again, then he quickly sat upright. It took a few more moments for his eyes to adjust to the dark, but when he was confident that he could at least stand up without tripping over something, he wriggled out of his sleeping bag and slowly got to his feet.

Making an effort to dodge the clothes that were strewn across the floor of the tent, Cyrus slowly made his way to the entrance and unzipped it, cringing slightly at the noise.

“TJ?” he whispered once he had straightened again, lingering outside of the tent for a moment. His heart began to race slightly as he stepped forward, surveying the area for his friend.

The forest looked haunting now that it was pitch black, and it honestly took everything within him not to just run back inside. Instead - he remained there, trembling like a leaf. The campfire had long been put out, which meant that the surrounding logs were barely visible. There were angry grey storm clouds above him, and harsh wind was beginning to whip through his hair. 

Just as he was contemplating turning back around, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. His heart jumped, and he whirled around in alarm to find-

“TJ!” he whisper-yelled, staring at the athlete accusingly. “You can’t just do that to someone!”

TJ smiled and dropped his arms, much to the other boy’s disappointment. “Sorry,” he whispered back, although Cyrus could tell he didn’t mean it. He had scared him on multiple occasions before this one, always insisting that Cyrus’ responses were ‘too cute.’ 

“What are you even  _doing_  out here?”

“I realised that I left my hoodie by the campfire,” TJ explained, holding it up.

Cyrus laughed slightly. “Of course.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“Lets go back inside,” TJ murmured eventually, glancing up at the sky. “Looks like it’s gonna rain soon.” 

As if to prove his point, light rain was beginning to fall, leaving splatters across both of their shirts. Cyrus had no intention of sticking around for the storm, so he gave the boy a quick nod.

There was something different about the way TJ was looking at him as they walked; something uninhibited. His stares blatantly seemed to linger, and his eyes were alight with a mischievous sort of confidence that made Cyrus want to grab his face and kiss him breathless.

Obviously - he refrained from doing this, but the thought was still very much there as they stepped inside the tent, TJ’s hand lingering on the small of his back.

There was nothing furtive about the glances that TJ was throwing him now, and the very idea of that made his heart race. The athlete stepped around him, flicking on the small lantern they had hung from the roof.

The tent was illuminated by warm yellow light now, and Cyrus wasn’t even pretending to hide his interest as TJ turned around to face him. Although the boy looked dishevelled at that moment with his tousled hair and his creased pyjama shirt, Cyrus had somehow never seen him look so perfect.

“Why’d you turn the light on?” he murmured, moving around TJ to sit down on his mattress. 

The athlete hesitated for a moment before responding. “So I could see you.”

“Why would you wanna see me if we’re going to sleep?”

Cyrus’ voice was teasing now, and TJ seemed to pick up on it if the smile on his lips was any indicator.

“I don’t know,” he responded, settling down on the mattress beside him.

The rain was becoming heavier by the second, and as a result the pattering sounds against their tent were becoming louder. The wind had also picked up by now, and it’s howling only added to all the noises around them.

“Do you think the tent will hold up?” Cyrus asked, searching for something to say.

TJ grinned. “If I set it up correctly, then yeah.”

“ _That’s_  what we’re depending on?” the boy teased. “Oh man, I think we’re done for.” 

TJ smiled fondly at that, reaching a hesitant hand out to take Cyrus’. The brown-haired boy watched as he interlaced their fingers, and he could confidently say he had never felt so many butterflies in his stomach.

His eyes met TJ’s again as the athlete brought his hand up to press soft kisses to each knuckle. 

If Cyrus wasn’t swooning before, he  _definitely_  was now. TJ Kippen was kissing his hand right now.  _TJ Kippen was literally kissing his hand right now._

He didn’t dare say anything then - he was too afraid that he’d break whatever confidence TJ seemed to have at that moment. Instead, he just watched with bated breath.

The pattering on their roof was becoming even louder, but somehow that had become background noise. All he could focus on was the fact that his literal  _crush_  seemed to be making an actual  _move_  on him. 

TJ shuffled closer then, and much like the previous night Cyrus was in awe of how  _nice_  yellow lighting seemed to make him look. His eyes swept over the boy’s face, taking in every detail he possibly could. 

“You’re beautiful,” he mumbled, and for some reason he didn’t find himself regretting those words.

TJ swallowed, leaning even further into Cyrus’ space. “So are you.”

That’s how they remained for a few tense moments, with their faces mere inches apart. The world had officially blurred around him to the point where all he could see and hear was TJ; his slightly ragged breathing, his green eyes, his long lashes and those ridiculously inviting lips. 

There was a glint in his eye now that was making it somewhat difficult for Cyrus to breathe.

The athlete drew back slightly, his gaze questioning. “Is this okay?”

“More than,” Cyrus breathed, and that seemed to be enough for TJ because he finally moved forward to close the gap between them.

The first kiss was tentative and barely there, his lips brushing softly against Cyrus’ in an almost experimental fashion. He clearly seemed to realise that the other boy wasn’t pulling away anytime soon, because he placed a hand on Cyrus’ knee for stability and leaned further forward.

Although the second kiss was soft, it was much less hesitant. Cyrus wrapped his arms around the athlete’s neck and pulled him in close, pressing his lips firmly against TJ’s.

It was an explosion of butterflies and fireworks, and TJ’s lips  _still_  tasted sugary from all of the coke they had drank before bed. Cyrus could honestly say it felt like he was  _floating_.

They were wrapped around each other now, exchanging desperate kisses as if their lives depended on it, and honestly - maybe it did in that moment.

They had building up to this for what felt like months, but was probably more like weeks, and now that Cyrus was living it in he didn’t want to let it go.

Kissing TJ Kippen felt as natural to him as breathing, and he  _never_  wanted to stop. 

Unfortunately for him though - he had to eventually. 

Neither of them spoke for a few long moments after they had separated, but they remained tangled together in a way that had Cyrus smiling softly.

TJ returned the smile, moving back slightly so that he could manoeuvre himself into a lying position. Cyrus ended up with his head resting gently on TJ’s chest, his arms draped loosely over the boy’s waist.

He wasn’t exactly sure how long they stayed like that - all he knew was that after a while of TJ playing with hair, his eyelids began to feel heavy.

“I’m tired,” he mumbled, snuggling into the fabric of TJ’s shirt.

“I know,” came the soft response. “You can sleep now, Cy.”

That was the last thing he remembered before drifting into the most peaceful sleep he had during that camping trip.

 

~

 

TJ was moving around the tent when Cyrus woke up, picking up clothes here and there and tossing them into a pile on his bed.

“Hey,” he said, although it had come out more as a question.

The athlete didn’t meet his eye as he sat down on the mattress, sorting through his pile.

“Hey,” he mumbled back without looking up.

Cyrus’ heart sank. 

_TJ regretted kissing him._

The thought alone made him want to cry or yell or do  _something_  drastic to express how he was feeling, but instead he just got up with a sigh and began collecting his own clothes.

_Of course TJ regretted it. Why wouldn’t he? He probably wasn’t even gay._

They packed their suitcases in silence, but it wasn’t the silence Cyrus was used to sitting through with TJ. Where the air usually felt light, it was heavy _,_ and the very idea that he had lost TJ’s trust was making him dread the trip home.

“Have you seen my polaroid camera?” 

Instead of making some quip about how prone Cyrus was to losing things, TJ just nodded his head towards the corner of the tent.

“Thanks,” he responded with another sigh, getting up again and grabbing the camera.

“Are you boys nearly ready?” Mrs.Kippen called.

“Yup, we’ll be out in a sec!” TJ called back, fumbling with the zip on his suitcase.

“Wow, he speaks,”  Cyrus quipped, moving back over to his mattress.

TJ didn’t respond to that ironically enough, which the other boy couldn’t help but scoff at. 

They fell back into silence as they packed up their air mattresses, keeping a deliberate space between them.

TJ made for the entrance when he was done, but Cyrus gently grabbed his arm.

“TJ - wait.”

The boy pulled his arm out of Cyrus’ grip, still not meeting his eye. "What?”

“About last night-“

“I don't wanna talk about it."

“But we have to-“

“It shouldn’t have happened, okay?” TJ said harshly.

That was enough to shock Cyrus into silence, which gave TJ the opportunity to zip open the door and step outside.

The brown-haired boy remained there for a moment, disbelief written all over his face.

_He finally understood what people meant when they described feeling their heart shatter._

 

~

 

“Is something wrong, Cyrus?” 

He looked over at the blonde-haired girl with a weak smile. “No, I’m fine.”

They were both watching TJ and Mrs.Kippen take down the final tent. Although the storm had eased up overnight, it was still overcast, and the dreary skies were putting an even bigger damper on Cyrus’ mood.

“You don’t seem fine,” Amber said gently, shuffling over the boy. 

He sighed heavily. There was something about the soft concern in her voice that made Cyrus feel bad about lying.

“I’m not,” he relented, squeezing his eyes shut. “But I can’t tell you why because you’ll hate me.”

He felt Amber wrap an arm around him, and he couldn’t help but lean into her.

“It’s TJ, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

His eyes flew open at that. “How did you know?” he demanded, before slapping a hand over his mouth.

She just smiled. “He seems way more tense than usual. Even more tense than when you guys had that...other thing.” 

Cyrus felt a slight pang of guilt as he looked over at the girl. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said, smiling slightly. “I know it was complicated.” 

Silence fell for a moment, and Cyrus found himself leaning his head on Amber’s shoulder. The company felt nice, and at that moment he really couldn’t care less that he had only spoken to Amber a handful of times.

“We kissed,” he blurted suddenly, his eyes becoming misty with tears. 

He wasn’t sure what he expected Amber to do, but he _definitely_ didn’t think she would wrap both arms around him.

“And?” 

“And... he said it shouldn’t have happened.”

Although it seemed to be an effort, Amber managed to put her anger towards TJ aside in favour of trying to comfort the boy leaning against her.

“Boys are dumb,” she began gently. “My brother included. He’ll come around, I promise.”

“...And if he doesn’t?” Cyrus asked, his voice small.

“Then I’ll kill him.” 

He smiled slightly at that, looking up at the girl. “Thanks, Amber.”

“It’s nothing.” she told him, returning the smile.

TJ and Mrs.Kippen finished packing up the tent soon after that, and they all helped in loading the car up. 

Although the tension within the car was suffocating as they all climbed inside, Cyrus was very grateful that Amber had volunteered to take the middle seat beforehand. This left a respectable distance between him and TJ, and it also meant that Cyrus could lean against Amber for moral support whenever he began thinking too much about the future of his friendship with TJ.

She spent the trip teaching him how to braid hair, and he had never been so grateful for a distraction in his whole life.

They stopped at a petrol station about half-way through the trip, and Cyrus was very grateful that he could escape the tension, even if it  _was_  only for a few minutes.

“Stop being such a dumb boy if you’re gonna blow it with him. He’s a great person and you  _know_  that, TJ.You  _know_  he doesn’t deserve this.”

He honestly hadn’t meant to overhear their conversation, but he had just left the petrol station bathroom and they were both standing by the chip aisle, their voices raised.

“Stop trying to get involved! You’re my  _sister_ , not my dating coach-“

“I  _know_  I’m not your stupid dating coach, but you’re being an idiot! For  _once_  can you just...oh.”

TJ followed her gaze, and his eyes immediately widened when he saw Cyrus standing there with an apologetic smile. It was only a matter of moments before he was turning around with a huff and storming out of the petrol station.

Amber rolled her eyes and walked over to Cyrus, trying hard to conceal her annoyance.

“I’m sorry,” she said gently.

Cyrus just shook his head, engulfing her in a hug. “Don’t be.” 

 

~

 

For Cyrus’ whole life, he had never been able to handle raised voices, or anger, or loud arguments - especially when it came to his friends. He knew this well. Over the next few days though, he learnt that silence was almost just as hard to handle.

When it came to angry outbursts or agreements, there was always  _emotion_  there.A few long moments where the air crackled with tension, or heavy sighs of frustration, or sudden explosions where voices were finally raised and cutting remarks were made. 

Silence brought none of that. In fact - it didn’t bring anything.

TJ wasn’t showing him any sign of emotion. now. There were no more angry outbursts, or confrontations, or signs of regret. The athlete either ignored him or, if he was lucky, sent him a half-hearted excuse as to why he couldn’t hang out that day. He didn’t go outside to draw, and he most certainly didn’t talk to Cyrus if they just so  _happened_  to be checking their mailboxes at the same time.

Okay - maybe it hadn’t really been a coincidence, but could you blame him for trying to initiate  _some_  sort of interaction with TJ?

Cyrus was becoming increasingly desperate for a sign that the boy even cared about him. So much so that he would’ve gladly taken multiple angry outbursts. Just not  _this_.

Really though - he should’ve seen something like this coming. Although TJ was an incredibly kind person most of the time, Cyrus knew that the boy got overwhelmed very easily. His method of dealing with issues was almost always avoidance, and right that was making Cyrus’ life a whole lot harder than it needed to be.

To cope with all of this, Cyrus did what any sane human would do - he isolated himself in his room and binge watched a bunch of romantic comedies, imagining himself as the protagonist in each one.

He was totally fine. He didn’t miss hanging out with TJ at all. Not one bit.

 

~

 

It was 4 days later that Cyrus finally saw TJ walk outside, his chalk box in hand. 

It was a sunny Friday afternoon, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The forecast that morning had said the temperature would be relatively cool despite this, but Cyrus wouldn’t know because he hadn’t been outside once that day.

Although he had given up trying to talk to TJ at this point, he couldn’t help but feel a spark of hope -  _TJ was willing to draw again, which had to mean something right?_

That was until he saw the girl who walked out after him. A girl that most definitely  _wasn’t_  Amber.

They were close when they both sat down on the concrete, and TJ immediately fished around in his box before pulling out a blue chalk and handing it to her. Cyrus couldn’t help but watch as he started playing music on his phone, laughing at the things she was saying and adding to her drawings.

 _So TJ was being awkward because he had a girlfriend?_  

The girl was most certainly pretty, and her drawings were amazing too. Cyrus could practically  _feel_  their chemistry from his bedroom window.

 _Jealousy is immature,_ he reminded himself as he forcefully shut his curtains.  _All you and TJ did was kiss, you don’t have any right to be jealous right now._

He turned away and threw himself onto his bed with a dramatic groan.

_He was an idiot for ever thinking he had a chance with TJ._

 

~

 

_[Cyrus added Rafael and Jamie to ‘idk lol’]_

 

 **Cyrus:** Hey guys

 **Rafael:** Hey! What’s up?

 **Cyrus:** Have either of you hung out with TJ since the camping trip?

 **Jamie:** i played some basketball w/ him like 2 days ago

 **Rafael:** I was there supporting from the sidelines lol 

 **Cyrus:** Is he okay?

 **Jamie:**  well...

 **Jamie:**  idk. he didn’t seem as happy as he usually does 

 **Rafael:**  Agreed

 **Rafael:**  Why? Did something happen?

 **Cyrus:** Long story 

 **Jamie:** i’ve got time 

 **Rafael:**  Same here

 **Cyrus:** Okay, well...

 **Cyrus:** We might’ve kissed

 **Jamie:**  I FUCKIN KNEW IT 

 **Jamie:**  sorry pardon my language 

 **Rafael:** That’s awesome!! I could tell he liked u

 **Cyrus:** He’s been ignoring me since

 **Jamie:** oh 

 **Rafael:**  ...That’s so TJ

 **Jamie:**  i know right?

 **Cyrus:**  wdym?

 **Jamie:** i love the guy but...

 **Jamie:**  he’s really not good with romantic stuff

 **Cyrus:**...he wasn’t a bad kisser

 **Rafael:** lmaoo no not like that, he just tends to get insecure

 **Cyrus:** TJ? Insecure?

 **Jamie:**  crazy, right?

 **Jamie:** no but really, give him a few more days and if he doesn’t reach out we’ll talk to him dude

 **Rafael:**  Yeah, I swear he really does like you 

 **Cyrus:**  thanks guys!!! 

 **Jamie:** np :) 

 **Rafael:** It’ll work out, I promise <3

 

~

 

It was when his friends barged into his room on a rainy Sunday evening that he realised maybe he  _should’ve_  responded to a text or two.

 _“_ Cyrus Goodman, you have  _no_  idea how mad I am right now,” Buffy said, tossing a bottle of water onto his bed. “We thought you  _died_  or something!”

Marty was by her side a moment later, putting a placating arm on her shoulder. Cyrus sat upright, while Andi and Jonah sat down at the foot of his bed.

“Uh. Hi.” he managed, giving them all a small wave.

“ _Hi? That’s_  all you have?” Buffy demanded.

Cyrus sighed heavily. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond to you guys. There’s just been...stuff.”

Marty laughed slightly. “Bro. You  _do_  know that we’ve been friends for years now, right? Friends help their friends with ‘stuff.’”

Cyrus wasn’t sure if he was just feeling particularly emotional that night, but for some reason he found himself tearing up. Andi noticed this immediately and moved forward, wrapping her arms around him.

“I made a mistake,” he said quietly, his voice wavering. 

Buffy immediately softened at that. “What kind of mistake?” she asked gently.

Jonah had moved to his other side by now, and Cyrus found himself gently resting his head on the boy’s shoulder.

“A mistake that probably ruined my friendship with TJ.”

Jonah gave him a confused look. “...What are you saying?”

“I kissed him. Well, honestly - he kissed me if you really think about it, but-“

“You two  _kissed!?_ ” Marty exclaimed, before promptly being smacked on the shoulder by Buffy.

“Why is that a bad thing?” Jonah asked.

“Because he’s ignoring me now... _and_  he said that it shouldn’t have happened. Everyone I’ve talked to keeps saying that he’ll come around but he  _hasn’t_ and now I’ve officially lost him as a friend which is what I worried about but I let him kiss me anyway - guys! I’m so dumb! I can’t believe I-“

“Cyrus,” Buffy interrupted gently, climbing onto the bed. “You  _aren’t_  dumb. If anything _, TJ’s_ the one being dumb. It’s not your fault that he’s ignoring you - you had no way of knowing he’d do that.”

Marty nodded in agreement, sitting down on the bed beside her. “The fact that he’s right next door is making me  _so_  tempted to go over there and yell at him for 10 years.”

Cyrus smiled weakly at that. “I think he’s getting that from Amber, anyway.”

“He  _is_? Wow, have I ever mentioned that I love Amber Kippen?” 

Buffy shot Andi an exasperated look. “Not the time, Andi.”

“Right. Sorry. So...are we going to go over there and yell at TJ or what?”

Marty seemed to notice the look on Cyrus’ face, because he shook his head. “Actually...let’s not focus on TJ right now. Cyrus is sad so I think we’re legally obligated to make him feel better.”

“He’s right,” Buffy sighed. “As much as I would love to give TJ a piece of my mind, we came over for  _Cyrus_ , not him.”

Andi stood up with a smile. “So what I’m hearing is - makeovers, Netflix, ice cream and trash talking boys?”

Cyrus couldn’t help but smile at that. “All of those things sound great.” 

“Good! Marty, Jonah, your time has come to leave.”

“ _What,_ ” Marty spluttered as Buffy began to usher him out of the room. “But I wanna trash talk boys too!” 

Buffy paused for a moment, her eyes narrowed sceptically. “What do you think, Cyrus?”

“Hmmm...” he trailed off, a playful smile on his lips. “I guess he can stay.” 

“What about you, Jonah?” Andi asked.

“My mom kinda just texted me saying she wants me home...send me pictures though?”

Cyrus smiled. “Will do, JB.” 

That’s how they ended up like they did two hours later, all wearing wigs and different shades of lipstick as they watched Queer Eye (they had all seen both seasons too many times to count, but it never failed to cheer Cyrus up so they sat through it anyway.) 

Just as Cyrus could honestly say he was beginning to forget about TJ, he received a text from the boy that made his heart stop.

“ _Guys,_ ” he hissed, leaning over to pause the episode. “TJ just texted me!” 

“ _What?_ ” Buffy demanded, moving over to sit next to him.

 

 **TJ:** Hey Cyrus! I was wondering if u wanted to hang out tomorrow? I have the house to myself   again. We could bake something else maybe? :)

 

Cyrus stared down at the message in disbelief for a moment, his heart racing. He began to type out a response, but Buffy took the phone right out of his hands.

“Cyrus! You can’t just respond to him now!” 

“Why not?!” 

“Because he ignored you and told you the kiss shouldn’t have happened! That’s why!”

“I’ll take friendship over nothing,” he insisted, leaning over to try and take his phone back. 

Marty plucked the phone out of Buffy’s hands, reading over the message before passing it to Andi.

“She’s right,” Marty said, an apologetic smile on his lips. “He can’t just message you like nothing happened, Cyrus.” 

“But - I don’t mind! I don’t care as long as we can be friends-“

“ _I_  mind,” Marty interrupted. “If you respond now, you’d practically be letting him play you! You  _have_  to play hard to get.”

“ _Hard to get?_ ” Cyrus asked incredulously, looking desperately over at Andi in search of back-up.

The girl just shrugged. “They both have points, Cyrus.” 

Cyrus flopped back onto the bed with a groan. “Fine. I won’t respond...but what if he doesn’t message me again?” 

Buffy smirked. “Trust me. If you don’t respond, he’ll panic and message you again. Hopefully with an  _apology_  this time.”

Cyrus sighed heavily. “I hate when you guys are right.” 

Marty smiled and handed him the bowl of popcorn. “Hey - lets keep watching, okay? Try not to think about it.” 

And If they noticed Cyrus’ longing glances out of the window every few minutes, they didn’t mention it.

 

~

 

After some pleading, Cyrus’ dad agreed to let them all stay over for a sleepover, which Cyrus couldn’t be more grateful for. He didn’t trust himself to be alone with his phone when he  _still_  had that unanswered message from TJ.

They were all in the living room when they heard it - a sudden knock at the door. It was 11pm and the pouring rain hadn’t slowed down at all, so they all exchanged a few confused glances. Buffy was the first to get up and walk over, with Marty following close behind. She looked through the peephole for a moment, before stepping backwards in alarm, her eyes wide.

“What is it?” Marty demanded, leaning over to look for himself. 

“Shit,” he mumbled after a moment, turning around to face Cyrus. “Uh...I don’t want to alarm you, but-“

“TJ’s outside!” Buffy practically yelled, and Cyrus’ heart nearly stopped right then and there. Andi was standing beside him, a protective arm wrapped around his shoulders.

“He better be here to apologise, or  _so_  help me-“

 _“_ Guys, it’s fine,” he assured, although really - it wasn’t fine in the slightest.

_TJ was at his door after ignoring him for days on end. TJ was literally at his door right now._

He stepped past both Buffy and Marty, throwing open the door before he could regret it. 

TJ was stood there wearing basketball shorts and a hoodie, his hair damp and his clothes splattered with rain.

“Hey,” he breathed, a timid smile on his lips.

Cyrus swallowed, glancing back at his friends in disbelief.

“Uh. Hey.” 


	10. Chalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TJ tries to explain himself and make it up to Cyrus. Andi's one-sided pining ~may or may not~ finally reach it's end.

“TJ Kippen, I’m about  _one_  second away from killing you right now so you better say something else,” Buffy asserted, stepping toward the boy.

TJ raised his arms in surrender. “I get it, but...can I please just talk to Cyrus?”

Marty scoffed. “He’s right here, dude. Fire away.” 

“I uh...kinda meant alone? If possible?” he said, and the words were spoken so timidly that Cyrus almost found himself feeling something aside from anger towards TJ.  _Almost_.

“Oh that is  _so_  not happening _,”_ Andi interjected, pulling Cyrus into her arms. “I’m not leaving you alone with him for one second.” 

TJ sighed heavily, and it was then that he realised just how  _tired_  the boy looked. His face had much less colour than it normally did, and there were faint bags under his eyes. 

 

_Not the time, Cyrus. Not the time._

 

“Okay...so are you all speaking  _for_  Cyrus now, or...”

Those were obviously the wrong words to choose, because Buffy suddenly seemed about ten times more furious than she had before.

“I  _swear_  TJ, I’m dangerously close to slamming the door in your face right now.” 

“I’m sorry,” he backtracked, clearly not wanting to add more fuel to the fire. “I didn’t mean...I just...look, I don’t mind talking to him with you guys there? If that’s any better?” 

Buffy shot Andi a questioning look, and the girl gave her a small shrug in return.

“ _Fine,”_  she relented, although it was clear she wasn’t happy with the idea. She reluctantly stepped aside to let the boy in, and Cyrus immediately found himself stepping backward.

“Sorry. Wouldn’t wanna get too close.” he mumbled, before turning around to walk over to the couch. Andi frowned and followed him, while TJ just froze, looking completely dejected.

“What have I done?” he mumbled to no one in particular, shoving his hands in his pockets as he moved over to the opposite couch.

Buffy and Marty lingered for a moment, exchanging a slightly worried look before moving to sit on the ground. 

The lights flickered for a brief moment, before blacking out completely. The room was plunged into darkness - a major contrast to the warm yellow lighting from before, and it only seemed to  _add_  to the tension.

“Hang on,” Marty mumbled, and after a moment there was bright white light emanatingfrom his phone. “It’s not much, but it’ll work for now.” 

Silence fell after that, and Cyrus could confidently say it was the most uncomfortable silence he’d ever had to sit through. 

TJ was fiddling with the hem of his hoodie now, clearly working up the courage to speak.

“I’m sorry,” he said eventually, and Buffy couldn’t help but scoff.

“And the apology of the year award goes to...”

“I know,” the athlete sighed, looking back up to meet Cyrus’ gaze. “I really should’ve planned this.”

“So...are we gonna stop dancing around what happened in that tent?” Cyrus asked him, and suddenly he felt the gaze of all of his friends on him. He bit his lip nervously, before adding “Could you guys maybe hang out in the kitchen? I’m not sure if this is going to work otherwise.” 

Buffy opened her mouth to object, but Marty just shook his head and put a placating hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go,” he mumbled, before turning to address Cyrus. “Can we still listen?”

“Sure,” the boy responded with a weak smile.

Andi looked conflicted by this, but she gave the boy a hug and stood up all the same. "We’ll be right there, okay?”

He nodded, looking down at his lap as they headed into the kitchen. Marty’s phone was still illuminating the space between him and TJ.

“...Could I come over?” the athlete asked hesitantly.

“I think this is fine,” Cyrus responded, and a very small part of him regretted those words.

TJ nodded, sinking back into the couch with a deflated sigh. “In answer to your question, I don’t want to dance around what happened, it’s just...”

“Just  _what_? You kissed me, TJ. Remember that? It happened, as much as you wish it didn’t.” 

“I  _did_  want it to happen, though.” TJ insisted, his voice pleading.

“Then why have you been avoiding me? And  _why_  did you literally say it shouldn’t have happened?”

“I was just scared-“

Cyrus couldn’t keep himself from interrupting. “Yeah? Well so was I! I was terrified that we were never gonna hang out again! Did you think about that?” 

He honestly didn’t know where any of this was coming from, but once he had started he couldn’t stop.

“Did you even think about me in  _any_  of this? Or were you too busy thinking about yourself?”

TJ just shook his head, looking back down at his lap. “I know how much it must’ve hurt. I’m really sorry. I should’ve just talked to you, and I  _definitely_ should’ve thought more about you’d be feeling.” 

Cyrus felt a slight pang at that, but he pressed on anyway. “Yeah. You should’ve. It’s fine if you don’t want to date me, just  _tell_  me that. You should also probably tell your girlfriend that you kissed a boy while you were away - I’m not sure how happy she would be with that.”

A loud gasp came from the kitchen then, and suddenly he heard Buffy calling out. “He has a  _girlfriend_?! Oh, I am  _so_  going to-“

“I don’t have a girlfriend!” TJ interrupted, and Cyrus found himself looking back over at the boy in alarm. “What makes you think I have a girlfriend? Cyrus - I’m literally gay.” 

Realisation hit him then, and he couldn’t help but bury his head in his hands with a groan. 

_The girl he had seen was probably just a friend._

“I saw you drawing with this girl. I just thought, since you two looked close, that...you know...”

“You mean Lauren?” TJ asked, and for the first time in days Cyrus watched a genuine smile come to his lips. “Oh  _god_ , no. We were childhood friends, but she ended up moving away. She just happened to be in the area that day.” 

Cyrus felt pretty guilty then, but there was no way he’d let  _TJ_  see that.

“Okay...so you don’t have a girlfriend. Cool. That  _still_  doesn’t make avoiding me like that okay.” 

TJ’s smile slipped at that. “I know,” he sighed. “I’m so, so sorry. I swear I do really like you.”

Cyrus scoffed slightly at that, and he could’ve sworn he heard Buffy do the same. "Could’ve fooled me.” 

TJ nodded. “I know. I never wanted you to think that I didn’t like you, because I do, but obviously...that’s what I ended up doing. 

All Cyrus did was raise an eyebrow, so the boy continued.

“That night after you fell asleep, I was just overthinking and I...” he paused for a moment to collect himself, looking up to meet Cyrus’ gaze. “I was just thinking about how I didn’t deserve you...not like that, anyway. There are so many great guys out there, and I’m just...you know.” he paused again to gesture to himself.

Cyrus still wasn’t saying anything, so he continued again.

“And then I got scared thinking about what would happen if I messed things up between us, and I just...don’t know what I would do we if we weren’t friends. I know it’s stupid but what we had before that night seemed so easy.”

“It  _was_  easy,” Cyrus admitted. “But that still doesn’t really explain why you avoided me afterwards.”

TJ sighed. “Cyrus...I don’t know anything about having a boyfriend. I knew I’d just be awkward around you, and I hated the idea of stuff being awkward between us because it’s usually so comfortable. Everything about it just stressed me out, and I thought the best way of dealing with it would be to...”

“Avoid me,” Cyrus finished flatly.

“Yeah...until it blew over.” 

Cyrus sighed heavily at that. TJ looked like a sad puppy, which was kind of ruining his life at the moment because  _dammit_  - he was supposed to be angry with the guy.

“Look,” he continued. “I’m new to the whole ‘actually communicating my feelings with other people’ thing. I know I should’ve just been up front with you instead of ignoring you, but...old habits die hard I guess.“

Cyrus thought back to what Rafael and Jamie had both said, and a part of him wanted to ask about TJ’s ‘old habits.’ He ended up refraining.

“I’m really sorry,” TJ said, and there was that  _damn_  pleading tone again. “I hope those didn’t sound like excuses, I just wanted you know that nothing was your fault. It was mine.”

Cyrus leant back against the couch, sighing heavily. “It’s fine, TJ. I get it.”

“It’s not though,” he insisted. “You have every right to be mad at me.”

Cyrus just shrugged. Neither of them said anything for a few long moments.

“Look...I’d get it if you need space, but I really  _do_  like you. After having some sense knocked into me by Amber, I’ve realised that dating you would be worth any risk.”

Although Cyrus smiled slightly at that, he was still unsure of what to say.

“Is there any way I could make it up to you?” TJ asked desperately.

“I don’t know, TJ...”

“Could I at least try?”

Cyrus hesitated for a moment. That small smile was back on TJ’s lips now, and he knew then that he was  _completely_  done for.

“Sure.”  

TJ apologised a few more times on the way out, which the other boy couldn’t help but smile at. Once Buffy had closed the door behind him, she turned to Cyrus with a surprisingly bright smile.

“Cyrus! I’m so proud of you!” 

His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as she stepped forward, engulfing him in a hug. He brought his arms up anyway to return the hug.

“You are?” he asked once they had pulled away.

“Of course I am - you stood up for yourself!” 

“She’s right,” Marty added, clapping him on the back. “You handled it well, dude.” 

Cyrus smiled timidly at that. “Thanks.” 

They all headed back over to the couch from there, and Cyrus was the first to speak once they had sat down.

“So...do you guys think he was actually sorry?” 

Andi looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think he was...his apologies seemed pretty genuine to me.”

Buffy seemed conflicted by this, but eventually she leaned into Marty with a defeated sigh. “I think so too.” she admitted. 

“I’m curious to see how he’s going to win back your love, Cyrus.” Marty teased.

Cyrus rolled his eyes at that, but there was a noticeable smile tugging at his lips now. “Whatever it is, it better be good.” 

“Wow,” Andi said playfully, giving her friend a nudge. “Look at  _you_  knowing your worth.” 

“I’m so proud.” Marty added dramatically, wiping a non-existent tear from his eye.

Cyrus was positively grinning by now. He gently rested his head on Andi’s shoulder, and the girl wrapped an arm around him. 

“Have I mentioned that I love you guys?” 

“A few times,” Buffy smiled. “But we love you too.” 

None of them spoke for a few moments.

“So...back to Netflix?” Marty questioned.

“Way to ruin the moment.” Andi said with a playful huff.

“I’m sorry! But I  _have_  to show you guys this movie I watched the other night.” 

Cyrus rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. “Okay. Let’s go watch Netflix.” 

 

~

 

The following evening was when Cyrus saw TJ again. 

He was face timing his friends while completing some holiday homework and the doorbell had suddenly chimed.

“Hang on guys, I think my dad forgot his key again. I’ll be right back!” 

With that, he paused the call and dashed downstairs, sporting sweatpants and an oversized shirt.

He threw open the door with a slight laugh. “Let me guess, you- oh. Uh - Hi.” 

TJ was stood there, wearing jeans and a red hoodie. Cyrus couldn’t help but feel slightly self-conscious.

“I um...made you these,” the boy said, giving Cyrus what looked liked like a hand-woven basket with a red ribbon tied around the handle.

Cyrus peered inside for a moment, before looking back up and shaking his head. "Are you telling me you made chocolate-chocolate chip muffins?”

“Yup.” 

“TJ, are you trying to bribe me?”

The athlete gave him a teasing smile, placing a hand against the door frame. “I don’t know. Is it working?”

Cyrus avoided the question, which seemed to tell the boy what he needed to know.

“I can’t believe you remembered that one throw-away comment.”

“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”

Cyrus shook his head again, but there was a visible smile tugging at his lips now. “Goodnight, TJ.”

TJ returned the smile. “Goodnight, Cyrus.”

He closed the door with a grin, before rushing back up to his room so he could tell his friends. 

 _He was so screwed_.

 

~

 

Cyrus honestly didn’t expect to see TJ again the following day, which is why he jolted so violently when he heard a knock at the door. He had been reading his school book, and really - practically anything was better than reading a school book, so he was quick to jump up and rush downstairs. 

“Is this going to be a daily thing now?” He asked as he opened the door, an amused smile on his lips.

This time TJ stopped by during the afternoon, and the unforgiving summer sun was  _already_  making Cyrus feel like he was overheating.

 _“_ Maybe,” TJ responded with a smile. “For 5 days at least.”

“5 days, huh?”

Privately, Cyrus couldn’t help but think the athlete would  _very_  much be able to win him over within 5 days, but TJ didn’t need to know that.

“5 days,” TJ confirmed, handing over the canvas he was holding.

Cyrus’ heart leapt when he realised what it was.

“You painted a green iguana? In a tree?”

“Yup! It took a reference picture or two, but...I got there.”

Cyrus couldn’t help but grin.  _This boy was officially trying to kill him._

“It’s pretty. Thanks, TJ.”

The boy waved him off. “It was nothing.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment or two. Cyrus could practically  _feel_  himself beginning to melt, so he decided to speak up first. “I should probably go.”

“Me too...”

TJ gave him a small smile, before turning around to walk away. He had reached the edge of Cyrus’ garden when the boy called out for him.

“TJ - wait!” 

The athlete instantly turned around, a questioning look on his face.

“I’ll - uh - see you again tomorrow, right?”

TJ smiled again. “You’ll see me again tomorrow,” he confirmed.

Cyrus nodded, and the boy was off again. He closed the door before any more heat could be let inside and dashed up to his room.

 

 **Cyrus:** FACETIME RN

 **Buffy:**  OKAY

 **Andi:** I’LL CALL 

 

“Guys!” he practically yelled as soon as he picked up.

Andi and Buffy both had amused smiles on their faces. “What is it?” Buffy asked him.

Cyrus walked over to sit by the fan, an excited grin on his lips. “TJ came over again!” 

“He  _did_?” Buffy asked. “Wow...maybe he  _is_  sorry.” 

“I think we’ve established that he must be at least  _slightly_  sorry. Why else would he bake those muffins?” 

“Fair point,” Buffy agreed. “But anyway - what happened this time?"

“He painted me  _this,”_ Cyrus responded, turning the camera so that he could show them the painting that was currently on his desk.

“Is that an iguana?” Andi asked after a moment, squinting slightly.

“Yup! A green iguana.”

Realisation swept over Buffy’s face. “Hey...isn’t that your-“

“Favourite reptile? Yeah, it is.”

“...That  _is_  kinda cute, I guess.” she admitted, a reluctant smile on her lips.

“Are you kidding me? It’s adorable!” Andi cooed.

Cyrus couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he turned the camera back around. “Yeah, I mean, not that I’ve totally forgiven him yet or anything but...get you a man who can paint, right?”

Andi burst into laughter at that, while Buffy just groaned. “Who have you  _become_ , Cyrus?” 

“A lovesick fool.” Andi sighed.

“Hey! I’m not lovesick - I’m still mad at him!”

Buffy snorted. “If he keeps bribing you with things, I’m really not sure how long that’s gonna last.”

“Whatever,” Cyrus huffed, folding his arms. “I’m  _definitely_  still mad at TJ Kippen.”

Andi snorted. “Okay. Well if you’re still mad, then I’m still mad.”

“And if you two are still mad, then I’m still mad!” Buffy added. 

None of them said anything for a moment.

“...It  _is_  a cute painting though.”

“Cyrus!” Andi laughed.

“I’m sorry! It’s not  _my_  fault I have a weakness for artists!” 

Buffy rolled her eyes at that, but there was s fond smile on her face. “Whatever. Let’s get back to homework, okay?”

 _That_ earnt her a groan from the other two.

 

~

 

Cyrus was well aware that shouldn’t be looking forward to visits from one person so much - especially if that person was TJ, but he found it very hard to distract himself that night. He tried just about everything to stop himself from thinking about the boy, but his efforts were futile.

The fact that TJ seemed to remember such small details about him was heart-melting in the most frustrating way possible.

He really  _did_  want to be angry at TJ, but from the moment they met he’d always had such a soft spot for him that it made being upset with him virtually impossible. 

He collapsed onto his bed with a heavy sigh. He had been painting and listening to a podcast, but somehow his mind led everything he did back to TJ. 

Wasn’t his brain supposed to be working  _with_  him here, rather than against him?

He ended up putting on a playlist and hoping for the best; his friends would be coming over the next morning, so at the very least he wouldn’t have to find ways to distract himself until TJ came around.

 _Stupid boys._  Actually, no - stupid  _TJ_ , with his stupid green eyes and his stupid kissable lips and his stupid (but valid) tendency avoid stressful situations completely.

Oh  _man_ , this was officially getting out of hand.

 

~

 

“So, are we gonna be here for TJ’s daily bribe?” Andi asked teasingly.

Cyrus smiled fondly at that, pausing his bead organising to throw a glance towards the front door. “Maybe,” he responded.

“I wonder what it’s gonna be this time. A pet puppy perhaps?” Buffy asked, reluctantly accepting the help that Andi was offering.

“I  _have_  mentioned my love for puppies to him before, but I very much doubt he’d buy me one.” 

It was Wednesday now, and the good hair crew (plus Jonah) were making bracelets at Cyrus’ house. The original plan had been to visit Andi Shack, but there was a painful lack of air conditioning in there and the heat would’ve killed them within minutes.

“Maybe he’ll write a song for you!” Jonah suggested.

“Oh  _god_  - what if he writes you a rap? Can you imagine  _TJ_  rapping?” Buffy asked with a shudder.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door then. The speed at which Cyrus got up from his chair and rushed over was downright embarrassing, but he honestly couldn’t find it within himself to care.

He tried to open the door in a relatively casual manner, but the sniggers coming from his friends were probably a dead giveaway.

“Hey,” he greeted.

The boy gave him a bright smile. “Hey! Um...I kinda remembered you talking about this book you saw at that LGBT store, so I went back and bought it.”

Cyrus was pretty much melting on the inside ( _and_  on the outside, honestly) as he accepted the book, a reluctant smile on his face.

“Thanks, TJ.” 

“It’s no problem,” he assured, pausing for a moment to look past Cyrus at his friends, “and uh - hey guys!” 

Surprisingly enough, there were smiles on all of their faces. 

“Hey!” Andi and Jonah greeted at the same time. Buffy rolled her eyes at this, before adding a ‘hey’ of her own.

TJ smiled. “I guess I should probably leave you guys to it.”  

Cyrus very nearly found himself asking TJ if he wanted to stay and make bracelets with them, but he decided against it. 

“Okay. Bye TJ,” he ended up responding switching the book to one arm so he could wave.

His gaze lingered even as TJ walked away, which he just  _knew_  his friends wouldn’t fail to notice. 

The athlete stopped in his tracks for a moment, before turning to look back at Cyrus. His heart swooped at that, and he gave the boy another quick wave. When TJ began walking away again, he gently closed the door.

“So...he gave you a book?” Jonah questioned as he sat down again.

“Yeah - from that pride book store we visited.”

“Can I take a look?” Buffy asked. 

Cyrus nodded, and she leant over to take and scan the cover. “Same sex marriage in the United States, the road to the Supreme Court.” she read aloud. “So...TJ knew you wanted this?”

Cyrus nodded again, and she handed it back with a sigh.

“Oh my  _god_ , Cyrus.”

“I  _know!_ ” he groaned, burying his face in his hands. “He’s making this  _so_  hard.” 

Andi smiled slightly at that, taking the book to flick through for herself. “Hey - I think he wrote something here.” she said after a moment.

Cyrus immediately looked up at that. “What’d he write?”

“‘I’m sorry’ on the first page and ‘you’re amazing’ on the last.”  

Cyrus leant down to rest his head on the table with a sigh, and Buffy couldn’t help but laugh.

“Do we need to call an ambulance?”

“Yes,” he complained, his voice slightly muffled. “ _And_ the police so they can arrest him for being so stupidly  _cute_.” 

Jonah smiled slightly at that, giving Cyrus a supportive pat on the back. “We’re on it, Cy-guy.” 

 

~

 

 **Buffy:**  Guys. TJ messaged me. And we had like...a conversation? Almost?

 **Cyrus:** WHAT

 **Andi:**  WHAT DID HE SAY

 **Buffy:**...that’s classified info 

 **Buffy:** Andi I need to text u 

 **Cyrus:** HEY

 **Cyrus:**  Why not me???

 **Cyrus:** This is so unfair

 **Cyrus:**  Hello?

 **Cyrus:** Wow,,, betrayed by own friends,,,

 **Andi:**  CYRUS I LOVE U BUT THIS IS CLASSIFIED STUFF

 **Cyrus:**  Urgh fine, I think I just heard a knock anyway 

 

He put down his phone with a huff and quickly changed into something that  _wasn’t_  a pyjama shirt before heading downstairs.

He opened the door, and TJ was standing there as usual. Although the temperature had cooled slightly since yesterday, it was still far,  _far_  too hot if you asked Cyrus.

“Hey!” TJ greeted.

“Hey! What’s up?”

“Wellll...I have this for you.”

He handed over a small photo album, and Cyrus spent a few moments flicking through it.

“These are from the camp trip,” he breathed, a small smile on his face. 

There was a combination of candids, selfies and landscape photos. Cyrus might’ve been  _slightly_  in love.

“Thanks, TJ!”

He really didn’t mean for the words to sound so enthusiastic, but the bright smile that came to TJ’s lips was definitely worth it. 

“I guess I should, you know,” he gestured vaguely in the direction behind him, and Cyrus bit his lip slightly.

“Um, I mean...you could come in if you wanted?”

TJ’s eye widened. “Oh! That’d be cool too. If it’s okay.” 

“It’s okay,” Cyrus assured him, stepping aside to let him pass. “I need someone to beat at Mario kart anyway - none of my friends will play with me.” 

“Gotcha.” TJ responded with a fond smile. “So, will we have to untangle the cords again?”

“Nope!” Cyrus called, practically bouncing over to the cabinet. “I kept them separate this time.” 

TJ hovered awkwardly around the couch whilst Cyrus set up the game. Eventually, he turned to the boy with an amused smile. “You can sit down if you want.” 

“Oh. Right! Of course.”  

Cyrus returned to the Nintendo after that, and after a moment he let out a triumphant ‘aha’ noise. “Got it!” 

He sat down on the couch beside TJ, handing him a controller.

“So...are you ready to lose?”

“I'm ready to _win_ , yeah,” TJ responded, and just like that something seemed to shift between them. Some of the tension between them dissipated, and Cyrus felt himself relaxing slightly, 

Towards the end of the first race (which, as expected, TJ was losing), the athlete leant over to cover Cyrus’ eyes.

“TJ!” he couldn’t help but laugh. “This  _not_  good sportsmanship!”

“Hey - I never said I was trying to be a good sport!”

After a moment, TJ let out an amused huff. “You’re literally still winning. How is that even possible?”

“Skill,” Cyrus responded smugly, squirming his way out of the boy’s grasp. 

They both watched as Cyrus sped past the finish line, ending in 1st place.

“You cheated and you  _still_  couldn’t win,” he teased.

TJ gave him a playful shove at that, but it was obvious that he wasn’t mad in the slightest. “Whatever. You probably just practise more.”

“Exactly!”

TJ just rolled his eyes fondly.

They played a few more rounds after that, and surprisingly enough TJ managed to win one of them. (Although Cyrus  _had_  been slightly distracted by TJ during that race, the boy definitely didn’t need to know that.) 

TJ’s mom texted him sometime during their fifth race asking him to come back home, so they were currently lingering by Cyrus’ front door.

“So...I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked hesitantly.

TJ nodded. “Yup! I’ll see you then.” 

Neither of them said anything for a moment. The sun was beginning to set by now, bringing a cool change with it. Birds were chirping, and there were a few young kids down the street making a racket.

“Well...see ya, Cy.”

TJ turned to walk away then, but for some reason Cyrus found himself gently grabbing his arm.

“TJ - wait.”

The boy turned back around, a small smile on his face. “What’s up?”

“Um...” 

Cyrus leant forward and placed a quick kiss on the athlete’s cheek before he could regret it.

“Goodnight,” he said, before dashing back inside.

TJ lingered there for a few more moments, an amazed smile on his lips. Cyrus was on the other side of the door, wearing a very similar smile.

_Yup. He was officially completely and utterly screwed._

 

_~_

 

Later on that night after having sent about 10 frantic texts, Andi started a group FaceTime call with everyone in their friendship group.

“GUYS!” came the excited yell about two seconds after she appeared on screen.

Cyrus couldn’t help but groan slightly - it was 11pm now and he had been about 2 seconds from retiring for the night.

“What is it?” Buffy asked.

“Amber just asked me out!” 

Cyrus’ eye’s widened at that, and he immediately sat upright. “Never mind. I’m awake! Oh my  _gosh_ , Andi!” 

“Thank  _god_  for that,” Marty teased. “I’m not sure how much longer I could’ve tolerated the pining.”

“Me neither,” Buffy added with an amused smile.

“Yeah - that’s awesome Andi!” 

“And you’ll never guess what else!”

“There’s a what else?” Cyrus asked.

“Yup - it was _TJ_ who convinced her to do it!” 

 _Of_ course _TJ convinced her to do it._

He buried his face in his heads with a dramatic groan then, and Marty couldn’t help but laugh.

“Are you okay there, Cyrus?”

“No, Marty. I’m not okay. He gave me a photo album today,  _and_  we played Mario kart, and - newsflash - he’s  _still_  the cutest person alive!”

“So...theoretically...if TJ asked you out, would you say yes?” Buffy asked.

There was something unusual about her tone that made Cyrus frown slightly. 

 _Buffy Driscoll? Being hesitant about something?_  

“Yeah,” he eventually sighed. “I would.”

“Aww,” Marty cooed. “He won back your love!” 

Cyrus rolled his eyes at that, but he smiling nonetheless. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about Amber again please because oh my  _god_ , Andi!” 

The girl giggled at that. “I  _have_  to read you guys the texts! She was so cute about it!”

As he listened to the (very adorable) conversation between Andi and Amber, Cyrus couldn’t help but feel a spark of hope. 

_From the way Buffy was acting, could it possible that TJ was planning on asking him out?_

The thought alone was making his heart flutter a very ridiculous amount.

_Damn TJ Kippen and all of his cuteness._

 

~

 

He was standing in front of his bedroom mirror the next day, tossing up between different hairstyles. 

Although it was another cloudless day, it didn’t come with same ridiculous heat. After changing his hair about a billion times, he eventually collapsed back onto his bed with a defeated groan.

 _That_  was the point at which his door was thrown open by a very enthusiastic Buffy.

“Hey! Need some help?”  

He bolted upright when he saw all of his friends standing there.

“Wha - who on  _earth_  let you in?” he demanded, quickly getting to his feet.

“Your door was unlocked,” She smiled, moving over to the window and closing the curtains. “Anyway -  _do_  you need help?”

“Pfft, no,” he said, glancing nervously around the room. “Why would I need help?”

“Because you kinda just ruined your hair.” Marty supplied.

Cyrus just rolled his eyes. “ _Why_  are you guys here?”

“To hang out with you!” Jonah said, walking over to sit on the bed.

“Okay...then  _why_  are you closing my curtains?” he asked.

The girl just shrugged. “To block out the sun. It's a hot day today."

“It’s not even hot though!” Cyrus exclaimed. “And you  _know_  I’m the biggest wimp when it comes to heat.” 

They all chose to ignore the comment, and soon Andi was linking her arm with Cyrus’ and gently directing him out of the room. “Let’s go hang out downstairs.” 

Cyrus honestly didn’t have the energy to press any further, so he just sighed in defeat and allowed himself to be dragged along.

“What are we doing downstairs?”

“Well,” Marty began, appearing at his other side. “We could...watch a movie, or make bracelets, or gossip. Endless options!”

“That could  _all_  be done in my room,” Cyrus said.

Andi paused for a moment then, clearly unsure how to respond. “Yeah, but...there’s way more room downstairs to do them!”

Cyrus just rolled his eyes. 

 _His friends were some of the worst liars he knew, but somehow it_ was _kind of endearing._

“Sure,” he relented, smiling wide. “We’ll just stick to that.” 

By the time they had helped Cyrus with his hair, finished Mulan (one of the only DVD’s in his cabinet) and raided the pantry for food, an hour or two had crept by. Although it was all fun, Cyrus  _still_  had TJ in the back of his mind when Marty suggested they do something else.

A sharp ding filled the room then, and Buffy quickly grabbed her phone. After a few moments of looking down at it, she immediately sprang up.

“Hey Cyrus! Why don’t we go to your bedroom now?”

“Wow. Your subtlety astounds me, Buffy." came the amused response.

The girl rolled her eyes and took Cyrus’ hand, leading him back up the stairs. He could feel a whole swarm of butterflies in his stomach by the time they reached his room.

“So...what is it?” he questioned nervously.

Buffy walked over to the window and peeked through the curtains. A bright smile immediately appeared on her face.

“You should probably take a look,” she said, stepping aside.

Andi, Jonah and Marty were all hovering by the doorway now. Cyrus slowly approached the window, glancing back at them in question. Buffy nodded encouragingly.

He opened the curtains then, and all of the air seeped out his lungs when he saw it.

“Oh my  _god_ ,” he breathed, an amazed smile lighting up his face.

He could barely even  _see_  any of TJ’s driveway because it was so covered in chalk. In giant bubbly lettering, the words ‘Be my boyfriend?’ were spelled out, and they were surrounded by even  _more_  words and pictures. The entire thing looked like a rainbow explosion, and Cyrus could honestly say it his new favourite chalk drawing. His eyes swept over all the minor details, trying to take everything in. There were pride pins and muffins and he even _swore_  he could see the lake that he and TJ had canoed at.

TJ was standing to the side, with Rafael, Jamie and Amber nearby packing up a few stray chalks.

“Are you kidding me?!” he exclaimed, turning back to his friends. “How could you guys  _possibly_  keep this from me?” 

“Hey - we can keep secrets sometimes!” Marty said with a laugh. 

Cyrus lingered there for a moment, disbelief written all over his face.

“That’s it. I’m going down there,” he said suddenly, rushing past his friends. They all looked after him with amused smiles.

Cyrus could feel his heart hammering away in his chest as he threw open the front door. The butterflies in his stomach were about ten times more intense now, but somehow he wasn’t focusing on that.

He was focusing on the boy who was currently waving at him from his driveway, looking  _far_  too endearing in an oversized blue hoodie with chalk marks all over it.

“TJ!” he practically yelled, and that only served to make the boy laugh harder.

The sun was beginning to set now, bringing with it a pleasantly cool breeze. The street was relatively quiet (apart from Cyrus’ yelling) and everything just seemed  _right_  as he approached the boy, the smile on his lips slightly hesitant.

He lingered there for a moment, still processing, but it was only a matter of seconds before he was running up to TJ. He jumped up when he reached the boy, who caught him with relative ease. 

They both remained like that for a few moments, with Cyrus’ arms looped around TJ’s neck, and the athlete’s hands supporting him. The breeze was _definitely_  messing his hair up by now, but he honestly couldn’t find it within him to care when he had TJ this close to him again. 

“You’re an idiot, TJ Kippen,” he breathed.

TJ was looking up at him with a fond smile. “You’re beautiful, Cyrus Goodman,” he murmured back, and that did it for Cyrus.

Before he could process anything, he was leaning down and connecting their lips. It was much slower than their first few kisses, twinged with comfort and relief rather than desperation, but it was perfect. TJ tasted like sugar and mint, which was an odd combination that had him swooning nonetheless. His lips were warm and slightly chapped and for some reason, Cyrus didn’t feel like he was floating this time. Kissing TJ was grounding, and that felt _infinitely_  better than floating ever could.

He didn’t even register all of the cheers coming from his friends until they had pulled away, but when he did an embarrassed smile came to his lips.

“We just kissed in front of all our friends, didn’t we?” he mumbled.

“Yup,” TJ confirmed with a wince. “My sister included.”

Cyrus smiled again as the boy gently set him on the ground. “It was worth it.” 

“It was,” TJ agreed, before pausing for a moment to look down. “So...this means you forgive me, right?”

Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, TJ. This means I forgive you.” 

TJ immediately looked back up at that. “Oh thank god.”  

“Your bribery worked.” Cyrus teased as they began to walk over to their friends.

“I’m glad,” TJ said, giving the boy a playful nudge. “I was planning on writing a song for you next if it didn’t.”

“You were  _what?!_ ” Marty demanded, and Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh.

“Cyrus,” Andi whined, her arm linked with Amber’s. “Why did you forgive him? Now we don’t get to hear the song.” 

“I’m sorry, but that’s entirely  _his_  fault!” 

TJ grinned at that, wrapping an arm around the boy’s waist. “I can’t help my charm.” 

“I’m getting tired of the sweetness, already.” Buffy sighed, but there was an undeniable smile on at the corner of her lips.

“Oh come on,” Marty cooed. “You  _know_  it’s cute.” 

Cyrus just shook his head at that, an amused smile on his face. Although he always appreciated his friends, it was times like these when he realised just how lucky he was to have them all.

“Anyone wanna go to The Spoon?” he asked suddenly, and the positive reaction from his friends was instantaneous. Rafael and Jamie exchanged a look, before shrugging and nodding along in agreement.

“Great! Let’s go then.” he said, leaning into TJ with a small smile.

 

~

 

“I can’t believe a few chalk drawings were the reason for all of this.” 

It was well after sunset now, and TJ was sprawled across his bed with Cyrus’ head resting gently on his chest. He was running a hand through the boy’s hair, and Cyrus could honestly say he wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.

“I know,” he mumbled, playing absent-mindedly with the athlete’s free hand. “I’m so glad you’re an artist.” 

TJ laughed then, and that sound  _still_  never failed to make Cyrus’ heart leap.

Silence fell for a few moments after that.

“You have no idea how much I like you, Cy,” TJ mumbled.

The boy immediately smiled at that. There was something about TJ’s voice then that made Cyrus believe him. Maybe it was the softness, or the way he seemed to hesitate slightly beforehand like he was nervous about admitting it.

Or maybe it was because the words were coming from TJ; someone he had only known for a month or two but felt like he had known his whole life.

“I like you too,” he mumbled back, shifting slightly to get comfortable. 

“Are you tired?” TJ asked with a fond smile.

“No,” Cyrus lied, but the yawn that immediately followed gave him away.

The athlete laughed slightly. “Go to sleep, Cy.”

Cyrus didn’t have the energy to put up a fight, so a quiet “okay” was all that ended up leaving his lips.

 

 _This time, he knew TJ would still be with him when he woke up,_  and that was the last thing he remembered thinking before drifting to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...that's the end! I loved writing this a lot, so I really hope you guys liked reading it! Thank you to anyone who's left kudos or comments on any of the chapters - I read all of them and appreciate them endlessly.
> 
> If anyone would be interested in me writing their first date or something along those lines as a separate oneshot, let me know! It'd be interesting to write about their romantic dynamic a bit, but if this story was enough then that's also fine!
> 
> For now though, that's it!! I hope these two oblivious boys didn't make you too frustrated, and I hope you have a nice day <33


End file.
